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Scottish employment figures
17/03/2010
The UK Government must commit to not cutting Scotland's budget further in 2010-11, and reconsider withdrawing its economic stimulus package this year, Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said in response to unemployment figures published today.
The Enterprise Minister was commenting after the latest figures showed that claimant count unemployment in February fell by 600 - the first fall in the Scottish claimant count since February 2008, and since before the start of the recession.
However, over the three month period to January 2010, ILO unemployment levels in Scotland increased by 16,000 with the ILO unemployment rate rising to 7.6 per cent. The UK ILO unemployment rate was 7.8 per cent over the same period. Rates of employment and economic activity in Scotland remain better than the UK average.
Commenting on the figures, Mr Mather said:
"While there are fragile signs of recovery across Scotland - with the first fall in the monthly claimant count in Scotland in two years - today's figures leave little doubt that we continue to face considerable challenges, and underline the vital importance of our comprehensive economic recovery plan.
"A crucial part of that plan is a range of measures to support employment, and it is excellent news that this morning the First Minister has announced the Scottish Government has reached its target to deliver more than 18,500 modern apprenticeships.
"We are absolutely committed to continuing this good work and delivering investment to reinvigorate the economy and help people get back to work. That is why our budget invests in economic recovery and protects frontline services, despite Westminster imposing the first cut in the resources available to the Scottish Government since devolution.
"It is vital that we have stability in Scotland's budget in 2010-11, which is why the First Minister has written to the Chancellor and shadow chancellors calling for no more cuts next year, and we will be intensifying our efforts in this crucial area in the coming days.
"These figures also demonstrate the compelling case for a continued economic stimulus package in the UK. Now is not the time for the Westminster Government to withdraw stimulus measures.
"The Chancellor was wrong to ignore our earlier calls for further accelerated capital spending. The Treasury has another opportunity to maintain an economic stimulus package for Scotland in the UK Budget next week, which is needed to help create and sustain jobs, and support the strong recovery we all want to see."
Analysis by the International Monetary Fund shows that among the G7, the UK is the only country to withdraw its fiscal stimulus in 2010 - reducing from 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2009 to zero in 2010. Across the G20 countries, the fiscal stimulus packages represent, on average, 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2010.
A comparison of fiscal stimulus packages was produced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November 2009, in the State of the Public Finances Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor publication.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure of unemployment is a survey based estimate of the number of people out of work who are actively seeking a job and are available to start work.
The headline economic activity indicator measures the number of people of working age participating in the labour market. This is either by being in employment or by being unemployed, but actively seeking employment (as captured by the ILO definition of unemployment).
Claimant count data is based on Jobseeker's Allowance records and is reported on a monthly basis.