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 20,000 from three months earlier.

The latest figures, for May to July 2025, showed there were 2,660,000 Scots aged 16 and over who were in employment, while 96,000 were unemployed.

The unemployment rate for the three months stood at 3.5%, lower than the 4.7% recorded across the UK as a whole.

However the employment rate for Scotland for May to July was 74.5%, slightly below the UK rate of 75.2%, according to the data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of Scots who are unemployed is down by 20,000 when compared with February to April 2025, with the latest total 31,000 lower than it was in the period from February to April 2024.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “Scotland’s labour market remains robust despite economic challenges.

“To help more people enter the workplace we are improving our employability services and have recently introduced enhanced services for those with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

“However, with a drop in payrolled employment across the UK as a whole and recent figures showing that UK growth is stalling, we need decisive action from the UK Government to boost Scotland’s economy.

“That’s why we are calling for a reversal to the damaging decision to raise employers’ National Insurance Contributions which is hampering business confidence, investment and costing jobs.”