Scotland’s unemployment rate rose to 4.5% in the final three months of last year, according to official data. The increase took the unemployment rate from 4% to 4.5%. The number of adult Scots under 65 in work fell by 30,000, to 2,534,000, BBC reported. The equivalent figure for the UK as a whole was up by 87,000, at just under 30.7 million, according to the office for national statistics. Meanwhile, wages grew by an average of 2.5%—up from 2.4% the previous month—although the increase remained below inflation. Scotland’s Employability Minister Jamie Hepburn described the latest data as “disappointing”, adding that the Scottish government “should recognize the need for further investment in our economy and labor market”. He continued: “This is demonstrated by our budget investments of almost £2.4 billion ($3.35 billion) in enterprise and skills and the most attractive package of non-domestic rates reliefs available anywhere in the UK, including the small business bonus, worth £720 million, and the UK’s first nursery relief.”
