Scottish unemployment total continues to fall

Unemployment fell by 11,000 to 205,000 in Scotland between March and May, compared with the previous three months.

The number of people in employment increased by 20,000 over the period, taking the number of people currently working in the country to around 2.49 million.

Scotland's umployment rate sits at 7.6% which is just below the UK average is 7.7%.

Yet, the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance in June was 141,300 - an increase of 1,500 over the month.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said: "Since last autumn the Scottish jobless figures have been heading in the right direction and this is encouraging.

"The UK Government is continuing to work hard to set the right conditions to put the country on a path to long term sustainable growth.

"However, I recognise that challenges remain and the Government's priority is to continue to support the economy by reducing the deficit and putting in place measures to encourage growth in the private sector."

He said overseas trade has been identified as one area to help "rebalance" the economy.

The Liberal Democrat MP added: "For this reason we have created a new Scottish trade group which will support our aim to increase exports from Scotland."

First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed the figures.

He said: "These new figures demonstrate that the economic policy of the Scottish Government is delivering, and is continuing to create and safeguard jobs across our communities with a series of positive employment initiatives in recent weeks, including from Gamesa, AWS Ocean Energy, Ceridian, State Street, the plans for the climate change centre at Edinburgh University and Aquamarine Power's new Oyster wave energy converter unveiled at Methil today.

"We have prioritised the role of capital investment as a key driver of recovery, and workforce jobs in construction have increased by 11.6% in Scotland in the year to March, compared to a 0.2% fall across the UK as a whole.

"However, as the increase in the claimant count demonstrates, more needs to be done to support jobs, secure investment and boost economic activity across Scotland, and these figures reinforce the need for a Plan B or flexibility from the UK Government in order to strengthen growth and recovery.

"With greater access to the key levers of economic growth, such as corporation tax and borrowing powers, we could do more to enhance investment and jobs in the Scottish economy, and give Scotland a major competitive advantage.