The latest employment figures continue to show Scotland moving in the right direction through SNP commitment to creating jobs, investing in infrastructure and supporting training. The Government level was complemented by ELC’s budget, restricting internal job losses to empty posts, with £50m+ investment securing local private sector jobs.

In January, over 3,635 jobs were supported or created and last week’s SNP Government budget saw further investment in training with the decision to increase apprenticeship places from a record 20,000 to 25,000.

Scotland is the only part of the UK currently experiencing a fall in unemployment, with the rest of the UK experiencing increases. Employment has risen by 23,000 in Scotland on the previous quarter, but is down 63,000 across the UK as a whole.