Jul 15 2010
The Future of Scotland to suffer joblessness
It is reported that the future of Scotland will grip with the misery of joblessness. The rate of unemployment in Scotland has now surpassed the UK average and is set to remain that way for years as a result of a major squeeze in public-sector spending.
Official figures, published yesterday, revealed that the Scottish jobless total soared to 8.1 per cent compared to a UK-wide figure of 7.8 per cent. It was reported that it is the first time in four years that joblessness north of the Border has exceeded the UK average. The labour-market statistics showed there are now 216,000 unemployed people in Scotland, up by 8,000 during the period from March to May this year. Unemployment figures, which include those who are out of work but not eligible for benefits, across the UK fell by 34,000 to 2.47 million during the same period.
In recent years Scotland has been cushioned by a large public sector, which is always slower at shedding staff during hard times. A forecast said that the cuts expected to hit public services next April meant that Scotland’s unemployment rate would be higher than elsewhere for a significant time.