Edinburgh enjoys drop in unemployment numbers

The number of people classed as unemployed, which includes those out of work but not eligible for benefits, fell to 204,000 across Scotland over the three months between August and October.

That is the biggest fall in the jobless total since March to May 2008, and comes after three months of rising unemployment.

The figures also show that the number of people in Scotland out of work and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) fell by 1100 from October to 139,500 in November.

The number of people in Edinburgh claiming JSA fell by 103 to 11,029, or 3.2 per cent of the population.

In West Lothian, there was a fall of 167, leaving 3981 people claiming JSA – 3.5 per cent of the population.

Midlothian saw an increase of 124 to 2101, or four per cent, and East Lothian saw a jump of 13 to 1919, or 3.1 per cent.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “The unemployment rate in Scotland is lower than that of the UK as a whole and the lowest of all UK nations.”