A Scottish Government minister said yesterday that a rise in youth employment to its highest level in a decade showed the country’s “economic landscape” was getting better.
The number of young people in work in Scotland increased by 20,000 to 363,000 in the second quarter, while the jobless rate sank to 14%, its lowest level since 2008, according to the ONS.
Fair Work, Skills and Training Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, said: “These are encouraging signs of an improving economic landscape in Scotland, following on from official statistics last month showing the economy grew by 0.6% in the first three months of this year.
Ms Cunningham was speaking during a visit to Coast and Glen, an Inverness-headquartered seafood company that supplies more than 100 restaurants with fish and marine products.
She added: “We will continue to work with employers and all other interested parties to ensure more of our young men and women get in to work and stay in work, in line with our ambitions outlined in the Youth Employment Strategy.
“As our economy continues to grow, we will use every power we currently have at our disposal to grow the economy even further, increase employment, lower unemployment and remove barriers to the labour market.”