Scottish unemployment: Number of Scots out of work falls by 5000

• Scottish jobless total falls by 5,000 to 214,000 in second quarter of 2012

• Jobless rate in Scotland now 7.9 per cent

• Unemployment still higher than last year

Official statistics showed a drop of 5,000 in unemployment - which includes people out of work but not eligible for benefits - over the period April to June.

The number of people who are out of work and receiving jobseeker’s allowance has also fallen to 142,600 in July - a drop of 800 from the previous month.

The Scottish unemployment rate now stands at 7.9 per cent - slightly lower than the rate for the UK as a whole, which is 8 per cent.

But unemployment north of the border is still 3,000 higher than the same quarter last year.

The number of people in employment rose by 12,000 over April to June, to 2,500,000. This total is, however, 5,000 lower than 12 months ago.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said it was “encouraging” that unemployment had fallen again.

He said: “The Scottish labour market is proving resilient and it is good news more people are finding work and fewer Scots are claiming benefit.

“Each step in the right direction counts for the families and individuals who have made the positive step into work.

“Unemployment has fallen for the fifth consecutive month of reporting. These are encouraging figures during challenging times but we cannot be complacent in our drive to rebalance the economy towards sustainable economic growth.

“This government is continuing to make the right decisions for the economy and getting the UK back into growth.”

He also stressed the need for the UK and Scottish governments to work together to tackle the problem, saying: “We need to continue to build a ‘Team Scotland’ approach to this issue across both governments, employment organisations and other bodies.”