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17 Oct 2012
Unemployment rose across Scotland in the last three months, despite falling across the UK as a whole, figures have shown.
There are now 222,000 people out of work in Scotland, 7,000 more than the previous quarter, while youth unemployment is now higher north of the border at 20.1 per cent than the British average of 18.5 per cent.
Employment levels in Scotland have also fallen below the UK mean.
This is despite pledges from the Scottish Government that all young people will be offered a place in training or work.
It was also announced today that GDP fell by in Scotland by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2012, mirroring the picture across the UK.
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Gavin Brown MSP said:
“Both the GDP and unemployment figures are very disappointing and highlight the importance once again of focusing all our efforts on jobs, growth and the economy.
“This is strong evidence of the rash decisions taken by the Scottish Government in the last budget to slash the housing budget when construction is struggling and to slash the college budget when youth unemployment is so high in Scotland.
“The SNP has to start delivering instead of simply talking about growth, and scrap its Scotland-only taxes which are harming business.
“When unemployment in Scotland fell below the UK average, Alex Salmond said it was all down to the work of the Scottish Government.
“Presumably the opposite is now the case.
“There is certainly an argument for looking at the burden we place on businesses through taxes, and a serious examination of business rates.”
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