Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland
Indicator 2. Work: people as a resource
Percentage of unemployed working age people (Social Justice Milestone 13)
Percentage of unemployed working age people
Year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
Men | 11.0 | 12.2 | 11.4 | 9.8 | 10.7 | 9.8 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 7.1 | 7.8 |
Women | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 5.7 |
People | 9.5 | 10.2 | 10.0 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.5 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.7 | 5.9 | 6.8 |
Source: Labour Force Survey: Office for National Statistics
The relevance of the indicator
A high employment rate is a key sustainable development objective. Employment enables people to meet their own needs and by contributing to the economy they benefit the whole of society.
Detailed definition and source details
The indicator is defined as the proportion of economically active people in Scotland who are unemployed according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition. This definition counts as unemployed those aged 16 and over who are:
without a job, are available to start work in the next two weeks and have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks; or
waiting to start a job already obtained in the next 2 weeks.
These figures are taken each year from the spring quarter of the Labour Force Survey run by the Office for National Statistics, and published annually in the Scottish Executive publication Social Justice … A Scotland where everyone matters8.
Trends
Since 1984, the percentage of unemployed working age people in Scotland has been falling.
Further disaggregation
The trends for men and women are broadly similar. Since 1999, when urban and rural areas had similar ILO unemployment rates, 7.6% and 7.5% respectively, rural area rates have reduced whilst urban area rates have remained generally static (see the Annex for allocation of council areas to urban and rural).
Percentage of unemployed working age people in urban and rural areas
Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
Urban councils | 7.6 | 7.9 | 6.1 | 7.6 |
Rural councils | 7.5 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 5.0 |
Scotland | 7.6 | 7.7 | 5.9 | 6.8 |
Source: Scottish Executive analysis of Labour Force Survey
Target
No target - a downward trend is desirable; we are committed to reducing the percentage of working age people who are unemployed.
Action
The New Deal programmes, delivered in partnership with the UK Government, have been instrumental in lowering unemployment by moving a variety of client groups into jobs. For example, 47,000 young people (18-24) in Scotland have gone into jobs, 13,700 long term unemployed adults (25 years plus), 17,200 from New Deal for Lone parents, and 10,300 from New Deal 50 plus.
In addition, a number of Scottish Executive Welfare to Work initiatives are contributing towards lowering unemployment, such as Training for Work, the New Futures Fund and the Glasgow Employment Zone for which we provide partial funding. However, it is clear that the general economic climate is of overarching importance in progress towards reducing the percentage of unemployed working age people.