Unions and industry bodies said yesterday the sharp rise in unemployment in Scotland should serve as a wake-up call for policy makers.
Scotland’s jobless total went up by 20,000 to 171,000 in the three months to the end of February, according to the Office for National Statistics.
It means the country has an unemployment rate of 6.2%, which is 1.1 percentage points higher than that of the UK as a whole.
The same period saw the number of people employed in Scotland dropped by 21,000 to 2.61million.
On a positive note, 21,100 fewer people were on jobseeker’s allowance in March compared to the same month a year ago.
However, the claimant count level, which includes Universal Credit, went up by 200 over the month to 71,400.
Andy Willox, Scottish policy convenor for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said the figures should “focus minds for those pounding pavements on the Holyrood campaign trail” ahead of next month’s election.
Mr Willox also warned confidence was faltering among Scotland’s small business, which are grappling with new challenges, including the National Living Wage and pension auto-enrolment deadlines.
He added: “While many parts of Scotland continue to do well, too many communities still suffer from the mistakes of the past, while some local economies face new challenges for which they seem unprepared.
“The need to develop stronger local businesses and robust local economies is at the heart of current FSB thinking in Scotland. We need to get behind our army of small businesses and make it as easy as possible for Scottish firms to create jobs and drive local prosperity.”
Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress, said: “With increases in unemployment and economic inactivity driven by a significant fall in employment, today’s statistics provide further evidence of the significant slowdown in the Scottish economy over the past year.
“It is difficult to find cause for optimism for a quick turnaround in the Scottish economy. The UK Government’s fiscal policies continue to have a negative effect on jobs and growth, there seems little prospect of a recovery in the offshore sector and Carron Phoenix is but the latest reflection of the ongoing crisis in manufacturing.
“Government at all levels must urgently revisit economic strategy in order to prevent the Scottish economy descending back into recession.”
