North Ayrshire - still highest unemployment in Scotland

Latest Government figures, issued last week, show North Ayrshire remains the area with the highest level of unemployment in Scotland.

Against a Scotland-wide unemployment rate of 7.8-percent, North Ayrshire now has 12.7-percent of all residents without work.  Glasgow has the second-highest unemployment (12.4-percent), followed by North Lanarkshire (11.7-percent).

Figures also show unemployment amongst those under the age of 24 is soaring in North Ayrshire, with around a third of all Jobseekers in the area falling into that category.

Overall, the number of people seeking work in Scotland was up by 1,000 between April and June, reaching 209,000.  Commenting on the new figures, Scottish Secretary, Liberal Democrat Michael Moore MP said, “The UK government's priority is to continue to support the economy by reducing the deficit and putting in place measures to encourage growth in the private sector.  We are creating a new model of economic growth, driven by investment and exports, and more evenly balanced across the UK.”

Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP, claimed the recession had been “both shorter and shallower in Scotland compared with the UK as a whole,” adding, “The action taken by the Scottish government has had a positive impact.  Our no compulsory redundancy policy for staff under our responsibility is helping to boost consumer confidence, and our commitment to the social wage - including the Council Tax freeze, no tuition fees, free prescriptions, and free concessionary travel - is giving Scots households maximum protection at a time when other bills and inflation are on a sharply rising curve.”