Europe

Europe

Scot unemployment rate rises to 231,000

21 January 2012 03:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. New official figures have revealed that the number of people out of work in Scotland has increased by 19,000 to total of 231,000 over three months between September and November last year, APA reports quoting Press TV.

According to the labour market statistics, the Scottish unemployment level stands at 8.6%, which is higher than the UK average of 8.4%.

The statistics also show a drop by 8,000 to about 2,467,000 in the number of employed Scottish people during the same time.

Remarking on the figures, Scottish Labour said it was â€œa bleak dayâ€ for Scotland’s economy and for thousands of Scottish people who are unemployed.

Labour Party leader Johann Lamont said, â€œScotland is now in the grip of a national crisis, with unemployment figures reaching disaster levels and even worse than the rest of the UK.â€

Slamming the SNP government’s financial strategy, she added, â€œWe face a toxic mix of unemployment and low growth in Scotland. This needs a crisis response from the Scottish government.â€

Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney also called for an urgent UK-wide jobs summit to agree a programme of employment creation.

Moreover, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the figures show that â€œwe need to focus on getting the economy back to health.â€