The Office of National Statistics (OBS) has just published its employment figures for Scotland, a good indicator of the state of the Scottish jobs market and economy. The employment rate for Scotland (measuring employment amongst those aged 16-64) increased by over 2000 in Q2 2018.  75.5.% , 2,646,500 people, are now in work in Scotland, just 0.3% points below the record level and 82,000 more than the pre-recession peak.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) welcomed the rise in employment in Scotland Andrew McRae, the FSB’s Scotland policy chair, commented:

“A boost in Scottish employment is welcome news.  Smaller Scottish firms are now more confident about trading conditions than they have been for some time”.

Interpreting the figures at the Fraser of Allander Institute, economist Stuart McIntyre said the latest data reinforced recent trends of high employment and low unemployment in the Scottish economy:

“The data suggests that there has been something of a shift away from self-employment over the past year, with all the employment growth coming from people working as employees.”

Scottish government employment minister Jamie Hepburn said:

“Scotland’s economy and the Scottish jobs market remain strong despite the challenges facing our economy as a result of Brexit”. He added: “We are committed to growing Scotland’s already strong economy.  We are investing a record £2.4bn in enterprise and skills, £4bn in infrastructure and £600m in broadband and delivering the most competitive package of rates relief in the UK.”