Jobless total in Scotland falls with unemployment rate lower than across UK

Scotland’s jobless rate remained lower than the UK’s, with new figures showing the number of adults out of work is down by 15,000 from three months before.

The latest figures, for April to June 2025, showed there were 2,674,000 Scots aged 16 and over who were in employment, while 105,000 were unemployed.

The unemployment rate for the three months stood at 3.8%, lower than the 4.7% recorded across the UK as a whole.

However the employment rate for Scotland for April to June was 75.1%, with this slightly below the UK rate of 75.3%, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of Scots who are unemployed is down by 15,000 when compared with January to March 2025, with the latest total 16,000 lower than it was in the period of April to June 2024.

Meanwhile the employment total is 12,000 higher than it was in January to March 2025, and up by 65,000 from 12 months ago.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “These figures show that Scotland’s labour market remains resilient with the number of payrolled employees in Scotland and their median monthly pay remaining high.”

She stressed the Scottish Government is “focused on driving the economic growth, conditions and investment that’s crucial to supporting jobs and prosperity”.

Ms Forbes added: “We are taking real action to deliver, investing up to £500 million over five years in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growth in the offshore wind sector.

“We are also investing £90 million in our employability services in 2025-26 to support people towards and into employment.

“However, we need decisive action from the UK Government to boost growth and a reversal of the decision to raise employers’ national insurance contributions.”