Scotland’s unemployment rate dipped slightly over the summer, even as the wider UK labour market weakened, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.
Between July and September, the unemployment rate for people aged 16 and over in Scotland stood at 3.7%, down 0.1 percentage points on the previous quarter and below the UK rate of 5%. An estimated 101,000 people were out of work, while about 2.655 million were in employment.
Scotland’s employment rate for those aged 16–64 was 74.3%, 0.7 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.
Across the UK, unemployment rose to 5% in the three months to September, the highest since early 2021. Regular pay growth slowed again to 4.6%, with real wages up 0.8% after CPI inflation. The number of payrolled employees fell by 32,000 in October to 30.3 million, following an identical drop in September.
Analysts said the figures point to a cooling labour market, with easing wage pressures alongside softer hiring.
