Chapter 1: Employment
The Scottish Government's single overarching Purpose is to increase sustainable economic growth. Improving participation in Scotland's labour market is a key driver in meeting this challenge.
This chapter explores the trends in employment across Scotland and its local authorities over the past few years using data from the Annual Population Survey ( APS). The latest APS data covers the period from January to December 2008, so it is important to note that the data does not necessarily take into account the full extent of the economic downturn as Scotland officially entered recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 2. The latest trends in Scotland's labour market are monitored monthly using the quarterly Labour Force Survey ( LFS) and data can be accessed on the Office for National Statistics website 3. However as the quarterly LFS has a smaller sample size it cannot be used to monitor trends below Scotland-level so the APS remains the best source for local area labour market trends.
There are two ways of looking at employment. We can either analyse the number of people with jobs, or the number of jobs. These two concepts are not the same thing as one person can have more than one job. Employment from the APS, as defined in Box 1.1, covers the number of people in employment.
Box 1.1 - Employment |
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Employment levels include: - employees;
- self-employed;
- those who were temporarily away from work (e.g. ill, on maternity leave, on holiday or temporarily laid off);
- those on government sponsored training schemes; and
- those working unpaid for their family business.
Individuals are classified into the above four groups according to their own assessment. Employment levels cover all workers aged 16 and over. Employment rates are the number of people in employment expressed as a percentage of the relevant population. These rates are based on internationally agreed definitions published by the International Labour Organisation ( ILO). Employment rates cover all workers of working age (16-64 for men and 16-59 for women). |
In 2008, there were 2.529 million people employed in Scotland, up 7,500 over the year. The working age employment rate was 75.6%. Although the headline employment rate is not as quick to change direction when economic growth slows, the APS is already showing a decline in employment, with working age employment levels down 3,400 and the employment rate down 0.4 percentage points over the year, consistent with the economic contraction. Further evidence from the quarterly LFS indicates that employment is continuing to decline across Scotland. Nevertheless, Chart 1.1 shows that's Scotland's labour market is still strong compared to its position in 2004 and it continues to outperform the UK.
Chart 1.1: Working age employment rate, Scotland and UK, 2004-2008
Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec
Chart 1.2: Employment rates by local authority, Scotland
Change on year (2007-2008)
Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec
Nearly two thirds of all local authorities (20 in total) experienced a reduction in employment rates between 2007 and 2008 (Chart 1.2). Those most affected were West Dunbartonshire, Orkney Islands, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire and Argyll & Bute; with all seeing employment rates reduce by more than 2 percentage points over the year. Despite the challenging economic circumstances, some local authorities experienced growth in their employment rates. Inverclyde saw the largest increase (up 4 percentage points) over the year, although it is worth noting that employment dropped by 3.8 percentage points between 2006 and 2007 in Inverclyde, so the current increase brings their employment rate to roughly the same level it was in 2006. East Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire, Moray and West Lothian also had notable increases in their employment rates with increases of more than 1 percentage point over the year.
Employment rates and levels from 2004 to 2008 are provided for each local authority in Table 1.1. A map showing graphically how the 2008 employment rates vary across the country is provided in Map 1.1.
Map 1.1: Working age employment rates by local authority, Scotland, 2008
Table 1.1: Employment rates and levels by local authority, Scotland, 2004-2008
Geography
(Residence Based) | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
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Proportion | Level | Proportion | Level | Proportion | Level | Proportion | Level | Proportion | Level |
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Scotland | 74.6% | 2,429,100 | 74.9% | 2,450,500 | 75.7% | 2,498,500 | 76.0% | 2,521,300 | 75.6% | 2,528,700 |
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Local Authority Area |
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Aberdeen City | 76.2% | 105,500 | 78.9% | 110,000 | 80.9% | 115,100 | 79.1% | 112,600 | 79.2% | 113,100 |
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Aberdeenshire | 79.7% | 119,300 | 80.5% | 120,100 | 81.6% | 124,500 | 82.7% | 127,700 | 82.3% | 128,000 |
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Angus | 76.3% | 50,700 | 77.3% | 51,700 | 80.7% | 54,200 | 79.2% | 53,300 | 80.0% | 54,000 |
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Argyll & Bute | 77.8% | 42,300 | 77.7% | 41,700 | 81.0% | 44,000 | 80.0% | 43,500 | 77.8% | 43,600 |
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Clackmannanshire | 72.1% | 21,600 | 72.8% | 22,100 | 72.0% | 22,000 | 69.5% | 21,900 | 70.9% | 22,300 |
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Dumfries and Galloway | 79.0% | 70,600 | 78.7% | 71,000 | 79.8% | 72,000 | 77.5% | 70,100 | 76.4% | 70,500 |
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Dundee City | 67.8% | 62,100 | 71.5% | 65,800 | 71.7% | 65,800 | 72.1% | 65,800 | 71.5% | 66,200 |
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East Ayrshire | 71.8% | 54,000 | 69.9% | 52,600 | 72.3% | 54,800 | 73.1% | 54,700 | 74.6% | 56,300 |
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East Dunbartonshire | 81.1% | 53,600 | 80.3% | 53,700 | 81.2% | 54,000 | 79.0% | 52,100 | 77.6% | 50,900 |
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East Lothian | 76.5% | 43,000 | 78.3% | 44,400 | 79.0% | 45,500 | 79.3% | 46,000 | 78.1% | 45,600 |
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East Renfrewshire | 79.3% | 43,500 | 79.3% | 44,000 | 78.9% | 43,400 | 77.3% | 43,000 | 76.7% | 42,800 |
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Edinburgh, City of | 75.0% | 232,900 | 76.5% | 241,100 | 76.5% | 242,700 | 77.2% | 248,400 | 76.1% | 251,300 |
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Eilean Siar | 79.3% | 12,600 | 80.4% | 13,000 | 79.8% | 13,000 | 79.4% | 13,100 | 78.7% | 13,200 |
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Falkirk | 77.0% | 72,200 | 76.1% | 72,200 | 78.0% | 74,500 | 78.1% | 75,000 | 78.9% | 76,100 |
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Fife | 77.9% | 175,600 | 76.8% | 175,700 | 76.3% | 175,400 | 75.9% | 176,000 | 76.5% | 177,000 |
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Glasgow City | 64.6% | 247,500 | 65.7% | 253,800 | 64.4% | 253,500 | 66.7% | 262,200 | 66.4% | 264,400 |
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Highland | 82.9% | 109,600 | 81.0% | 108,700 | 79.9% | 109,100 | 82.0% | 111,900 | 81.8% | 112,100 |
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Inverclyde | 68.6% | 35,400 | 70.6% | 36,200 | 72.3% | 37,200 | 68.5% | 35,700 | 72.5% | 37,700 |
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Midlothian | 80.2% | 40,400 | 79.4% | 39,900 | 81.1% | 40,300 | 80.7% | 40,600 | 80.0% | 40,600 |
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Moray | 77.7% | 41,900 | 76.9% | 41,600 | 79.2% | 43,200 | 80.5% | 43,600 | 81.9% | 45,100 |
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North Ayrshire | 67.8% | 57,700 | 72.1% | 61,000 | 70.9% | 59,800 | 71.6% | 60,400 | 71.9% | 60,600 |
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North Lanarkshire | 70.6% | 147,000 | 71.4% | 148,000 | 73.1% | 152,700 | 73.2% | 153,300 | 71.0% | 149,400 |
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Orkney Islands | 85.0% | 10,500 | 84.6% | 10,400 | 83.2% | 10,500 | 86.4% | 10,900 | 83.9% | 10,700 |
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Perth and Kinross | 78.6% | 65,900 | 77.9% | 66,100 | 79.6% | 68,600 | 78.2% | 68,200 | 78.8% | 69,500 |
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Renfrewshire | 74.6% | 81,800 | 74.4% | 81,200 | 76.9% | 83,900 | 75.0% | 81,900 | 76.0% | 82,600 |
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Scottish Borders | 80.0% | 53,800 | 78.3% | 52,100 | 79.4% | 54,000 | 81.5% | 55,400 | 80.8% | 55,500 |
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Shetland Islands | 85.9% | 12,000 | 85.5% | 11,900 | 85.1% | 11,800 | 88.1% | 12,300 | 88.0% | 12,400 |
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South Ayrshire | 74.3% | 50,800 | 74.4% | 50,700 | 74.7% | 51,100 | 77.2% | 53,000 | 75.6% | 51,800 |
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South Lanarkshire | 75.5% | 146,900 | 74.3% | 145,100 | 77.4% | 151,900 | 78.9% | 156,400 | 76.7% | 153,100 |
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Stirling | 76.7% | 42,300 | 75.9% | 41,700 | 74.8% | 41,900 | 76.8% | 43,600 | 75.4% | 43,300 |
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West Dunbartonshire | 71.0% | 41,900 | 71.2% | 41,500 | 73.6% | 43,200 | 73.9% | 43,700 | 71.2% | 42,100 |
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West Lothian | 79.2% | 84,400 | 76.2% | 81,500 | 79.2% | 85,000 | 77.9% | 84,900 | 79.1% | 86,900 |
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Source: Annual Population Survey, Jan-Dec
Note: Employment levels cover those aged 16 and over. Employment rates cover working age (men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59).