Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Drop in UC claims in the north mirrors fall in Scottish unemployment rate

Richard Lochhead with arms folded looking at camera.
Employment Minister Richard Lochhead says HMRC payroll figures highlight a "gradual" recovery.

A total of 18,826 people were claiming Universal Credit (UC) in the Highland Council area on August 12, down from 19,009 a month earlier, new figures supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the region have revealed.

DWP customer service leader Izabela Fabia also revealed the latest total for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey UK parliamentary constituency, with the figure dropping to 8,918 from 8,984 previously.

The statistics include all people claiming UC not just those unemployed.

On the front line of filling jobs

Ms Fabia said Jobcentre staff in the north were ramping up their efforts to fill local vacancies, adding: “We have a number of new front line work coaches supporting people looking for work across Inverness and Ross-shire, including helping them pivot into new sectors.”

DWP employer and partnership manager Paul Walsh said the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme, aimed at creating new jobs for 16-to-24-year-olds on Universal Credit who are at risk of long-term unemployment, was a strong focus of work for the department’s staff in Aberdeen just now.

Mr Walsh added: “We have a number of different employers attending Aberdeen Jobcentre on a weekly basis who are offering job interviews, mentoring sessions and providing feedback to support customers.

“Employers attending have come from a variety of different sectors including hospitality and retail as well as construction.

“This is all very positive and shows the economy within Aberdeen is improving with new opportunities arising as we move out of restrictions.”

Unemployment down, employment up

Scotland’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in the last quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The jobless rate for Scots aged 16 and over between May and July was 4.3%, a 0.1% drop on the previous quarter.

This was below the UK-wide unemployment rate of 4.6% for over-16s.

Meanwhile, the Scottish employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 rose to 74.1%, a 0.2% increase on the previous quarter.

The UK-wide employment rate over the period for that age group was 75.2%, up 0.5% on the previous three months.


Kate Forbes calls on UK Government to match £500 million oil and gas pledge for north-east

New markets mean more jobs for McLachlan Marine


There were 2,533 million people aged 16 to 64 in employment between May and July in Scotland, while 117,000 people in that age range were unemployed.

Employment Minister Richard Lochhead said: “Separate HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) early estimates… show 9,000 more payrolled employees in August than July 2021, however, this is 25,000 fewer payrolled employees compared with February 2020, which reflects our gradual ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic.”

‘Encouraging signs’

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said the ONS  figures offered “encouraging” signs, adding: “As we recover from the pandemic, we will continue to do all we can to get people back into work, support businesses and see the economy flourish again.”

According to Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, the UK economy is now “well-prepared for the end of furlough, with unemployment demonstrating a clear downward trend and the highest level of vacancies in the economy since records began”.