From Douglas Fraser of the BBC, two days ago:
Unemployment in Scotland is down, while it has risen in the rest of the UK. The monthly figures on the jobs market tell us the share of the adult population in Scotland searching for a job between March and May was down to 3.7%, while it was up to 4.7% across the UK.
Now I now that it’s only 1% higher, crudely, but that’s 1% of around 4 000 000 adults in Scotland, 40 000 people.
1 as a percentage of 3.7 is 27%.
What’s the stuff about employment figures not being ‘up to the job?’
Douglas tells us:
Such numbers are no longer given the stamp of approval as National Statistics. Why? I’ll come back to that. But let’s look at some numbers that are more reliable. They come from HM Revenue and Customs which – as many of us know – takes tax off employed people’s pay at source in the month it is earned.
The collection agency knows the number of people on payrolls, how that number varies, and how median pay for employees is changing. They can do that at a Scottish level as well the UK and other bits of the UK.In Scotland, that tells us there were more than 2.5 million people in payrolled jobs in June. And since June of last year there’s been a fall in that total of 16,000. With more data due, they’ll revise that figure next month. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgk34xl314jo
Interesting but what are the HMRC numbers for the rest of the UK so that we may compare? Not telling us? Wonder why.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Because HMS James Cook’s stunning silence over England comparative numbers were picked up on by @Handandshrimp over on WGD – https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2025/07/15/starmer-the-don-quixote-of-british-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-218328
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Well it’ll be going up in Scotland asap, the English government are closing down their job centres in Scotland…so there’ll be no help for unemployed to find jobs. Scottish government should set up their own job shops/centres for people in Scotland.
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Most of the powers to do that are reserved to Westminster.
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Devolution has brought rewards to Scotland. Independence would be even better. Scottish revenues would not be wasted by Westminster.
Thatcher unemployment in Scotland was15%. The only place it was under 10% was in London S/E. All Scotland’s revenues and resources were secretly and illegally taken. Interest rates 17%. Inflation 15%.
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Indeed. Scotland’s revenues and resources are still being taken, stolen, to the tune of £billions every year, not ‘secretly’ now, but right under the noses of the Scottish people and the Scottish government. It’s daylight robbery, I wonder what we can do to stop it, hmm.
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