# General > Politics >  Scots Jobless Rise

## rob murray

Scotland's jobless total increased by 18,000 between June and August to stand at 170,000, according to official figures.
The rise contrasted with a fall of 79,000 in UK unemployment, to 1.7 million, over the same period.
The Scottish jobless rate stands at 6.1%, compared with 5.4% for the whole of the UK.

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## cptdodger

> Scotland's jobless total increased by 18,000 between June and August to stand at 170,000, according to official figures.
> The rise contrasted with a fall of 79,000 in UK unemployment, to 1.7 million, over the same period.
> The Scottish jobless rate stands at 6.1%, compared with 5.4% for the whole of the UK.


And that will not be the true figure either as they will not take people like me into consideration. I am jobless and cannot sign on, as I am not entitled to anything.

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## Alrock

It'll be interesting to see if anybody in Government takes responsibility for the increase, they are usually quick enough to take the credit when it decreases!

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## rob murray

> It'll be interesting to see if anybody in Government takes responsibility for the increase, they are usually quick enough to take the credit when it decreases!


Yep....What government...Scotland or Westmister ??

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## Alrock

> Yep....What government...Scotland or Westmister ??


Either, all Governments seem to be the same, quick to take credit for any good news & just as quick to distant themselves from any bad news...

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## rob murray

Well heres the Scottish governments response  on BBC Scotland news: Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney said that with the increase in the unemployment rate, it was important to sustain public sector investment to strengthen business confidence and deliver economic recovery.
He added: "While Scotland has now seen three years of continuous economic growth, and continues to exceed the UK in the total employment rate and in youth and female employment rates, today's figures show that there remain serious challenges to economic recovery." : BUt Im confused as figures show UK 5.4% for UK and Scotland at 6.1% ??

Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) general secretary Grahame Smith said: "There's no hiding the fact that this is a particularly worrying set of statistics. "Unemployment is now back on a clear upward trend and working age employment is lower than it was a year ago."...directly contradiciting Swinney
"Whilst it is difficult to be precise about why Scotland's labour market performance is increasingly weak relative to the rest of the UK, it is highly likely that job losses in the oil and gas sector are now having a tangible impact on the aggregate statistics." : Id agree with this as oil / gas lay offs will be comming through as ex oil / gas workers people sign on with more  to come on stream.

However BBC News ( UK ) states  The UK unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low of 5.4% in the three months to August, figures have shown. It was the lowest jobless rate since the second quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics said.

SO 2 different stories, UK as a whole doing fine, diasaggregate and pull Scotland out as a stand alone and the Scottish story is different, ie higher unemployment or is it.......???

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## rob murray

> Well heres the Scottish governments response  on BBC Scotland news: Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney said that with the increase in the unemployment rate, it was important to sustain public sector investment to strengthen business confidence and deliver economic recovery.
> He added: "While Scotland has now seen three years of continuous economic growth, and continues to exceed the UK in the total employment rate and in youth and female employment rates, today's figures show that there remain serious challenges to economic recovery." : BUt Im confused as figures show UK 5.4% for UK and Scotland at 6.1% ??
> 
> Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) general secretary Grahame Smith said: "There's no hiding the fact that this is a particularly worrying set of statistics. "Unemployment is now back on a clear upward trend and working age employment is lower than it was a year ago."...directly contradiciting Swinney
> "Whilst it is difficult to be precise about why Scotland's labour market performance is increasingly weak relative to the rest of the UK, it is highly likely that job losses in the oil and gas sector are now having a tangible impact on the aggregate statistics." : Id agree with this as oil / gas lay offs will be comming through as ex oil / gas workers people sign on with more  to come on stream.
> 
> However BBC News ( UK ) states  The UK unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low of 5.4% in the three months to August, figures have shown. It was the lowest jobless rate since the second quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics said.
> 
> SO 2 different stories, UK as a whole doing fine, diasaggregate and pull Scotland out as a stand alone and the Scottish story is different, ie higher unemployment or is it.......???


More bad news : Tata Steel 'set to cut 1,200 jobs'..Scottish jobs to go !

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