Latest Scottish Labour Market Trends report released

<h1>Latest Scottish Labour Market Trends report released</h1>

<p><strong>Scottish labour market continues to hold up
well, but challenges remain</strong></p>

<p>The
Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) and the Scottish Centre for Employment
Research (SCER) published the third edition of Scottish Labour Market Trends in
June. The report examines the performance of the Scottish labour market so far
this year and assesses the outlook for employment, unemployment and earnings in
advance of tomorrow's updated statistics.</p>

<p>The
report concludes that despite apparently very little growth in the overall
economy, Scotland's labour market continues to hold up remarkably well.</p>

<p>Over
the&nbsp;three months, January to March 2017, unemployment in Scotland fell
48,000 whilst employment levels rose 41,000.</p>

<p>The
current rates of employment and unemployment are close to the best on record.
Indeed, since 1992 - when the labour force survey was first published - only in
the early summer of 2008 has Scotland's unemployment rate ever been lower than
the current rate of 4.4%.</p>

<p>Scotland's
youth unemployment rate continues to outperform all other parts of the UK and
compares favourably internationally.</p>

<p>However,
as highlighted in previous editions of Labour Market Trends, the headline
figures do hide some challenges.</p>

<ul class="standard">
 <li>Firstly, the type
     of employment being created appears to be less secure in many instances.
     For example, since the financial crisis there has been a rise in part-time
     employment (up around 9% since 2007). Within the part-time figures, there
     has been a 60% increase in the number of people who say the reason they
     are working part-time is that they cannot find a full-time job.
     Self-employment has also risen - up around 25% since 2007. Indeed, nearly
     3/4 of the growth in Scottish employment over the last year was in the form
     of self-employment.</li>
 <li>Secondly, there
     has been a further rise in economic inactivity - that is people not
     actively seeking work - of 15,000 over the last year.</li>
 <li>Thirdly, the general
     news on the Scottish economy remains disappointing. With little or no
     growth in output, but rising levels of employment, productivity takes the
     hit. In 2016, productivity as measured by output per hour worked in
     Scotland fell 1.5%.Weak productivity levels will make it difficult for
     businesses to find new resources to support sustained wage increases. With
     inflation now at 2.6% and forecast to go higher over the next few months,
     the prospects for household incomes continue to look weak.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>The
report also includes two more detailed insights into trends in training and
union density in Scotland and the UK.</p>

<p>Download:&nbsp;<a
href="https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/economics/fraser/20170613/labour-market-trends.pdf">Labour Market Trends - Vol 1 No 3</a></p>