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Indicator 2. Work: people as a resource
Unemployment Rates
Year | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
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Men | 11.0 | 12.1 | 11.3 | 9.7 | 10.6 | 9.7 | 8.5 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 6.1 | 7.0 |
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Women | 7.6 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
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People | 9.5 | 10.1 | 9.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.4 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
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Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
Note: The publication of the 2001 Census of Population resulted in population estimates being revised back until 1984. Thus the historical series of the Labour Force Survey ( LFS) has been re-weighted using these revised estimates.
The relevance of the indicator
A high employment rate is a key sustainable development objective. Employment enables people to meet their own needs and by contributing to the economy they benefit the whole of society.
Note that a rising unemployment rate does not necessary occur alongside a falling employment rate. The current employment rate of 75.0 per cent (Feb 05-Apr 05 quarter) is 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous years employment rate..
Recently the focus has moved from those that are unemployed, that is those who are seeking and are available for work, to those who are inactive. People who are inactive include those on workless benefits. Moving from inactive to unemployed can, in some cases, be a positive step thus unemployment rates should not be seen in isolation.
Detailed definition and source details
The indicator is defined as the proportion of economically active people in Scotland who are unemployed according to the International Labour Organisation ( ILO) definition. This definition counts as unemployed those aged 16 and over who are:
without a job, are available to start work in the next two weeks and have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks; or
waiting to start a job already obtained in the next 2 weeks.
These figures are taken each year from the spring quarter of the Labour Force Survey run by the Office for National Statistics.
Trends
Since 1984, there has been a downward trend in unemployment rates in Scotland.
Further disaggregation
The trends for men and women are broadly similar. In spring 2004 the gap in unemployment rate between men and women widened slightly from the previous year.
In 1999 urban and rural areas had similar ILO unemployment rates, 7.4% and 7.2% respectively. Since then unemployment rate in rural areas has reduced by a greater extent than unemployment in urban areas. In 2004 unemployment in urban areas was 6.7% whereas unemployment in rural areas was 4.2% (see the Annex for allocation of council areas to urban and rural).
Unemployment rates in urban and rural areas
Year | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
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Urban councils | 7.4 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 |
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Rural councils | 7.2 | 7.1 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
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Scotland | 7.3 | 7.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 5.9 |
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Source: Labour Force Survey, Spring Quarter
Target
No target - a downward trend is desirable; we are committed to reducing the unemployment rate.
The Closing the Opportunity Gap Targets were announced in December 2004. There are two targets associated with workless people: Target A - Reduce the number of workless people dependent on DWP benefits in Glasgow, North & South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire & Inverclyde, Dundee, and West Dunbartonshire by 2007 and by 2010 and Target B - Reduce the proportion of 16-19 year olds who are not in education training or employment by 2008 1.
Action
The New Deal programmes, delivered in partnership with the UK Government, have been instrumental in lowering unemployment by moving a variety of client groups into jobs. For example, 66,910 young people (18-24) in Scotland have gone into jobs, 25,140 long term unemployed adults (25 years plus) and 36,910 from New Deal for Lone parents (all up to March 2005). Also 12,180 people from New Deal 50 plus have gone into jobs up to March 2003 and 5550 from New Deal 50 plus have gone into jobs from April 2003 to March 2005. The New Deal 50 plus jobs figures are split due to the introduction of the Working Tax Credit in April 2003, which changed the way that jobs obtained through New Deal 50 plus were recorded.
In addition, a number of Scottish Executive initiatives are contributing towards lowering unemployment, such as the Community Regeneration Fund which targets action in the most deprived areas, and the skills programme Training for Work. The Executive supports the Glasgow Employment Zone, and the Glasgow Equal Access programme which is looking at new ways of helping health and social care clients to move towards and into work. To support the Closing the Opportunity Gap targets, the Executive will publish later in 2005 an Employability Framework for Scotland, which will set out how services provided by both the UK Government and a range of Scottish agencies can co-operate in helping disadvantaged people into the labour market. However, any action to reduce unemployment is heavily dependent on the general economic climate and its capacity to generate job opportunities.
Footnotes1 More information on the Closing the Opportunity Gap Targets can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/closingtheopportunitygap.
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