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BBC Breakfast this morning with an extended piece on unemployment not being mirrored by BBC Scotland.

The unemployment rate in Scotland at the end of 2025, was 3.7%, down from 3.8% in 2024.  In crude terms 5.1 is 1.4 greater than 3.7 but as a percentage, to take account of the millions of people being referred to, unemployment in England is 37.8% higher. There are about 1.8m unemployed in the UK so if the rate was the same in the UK as it is in Scotland, hundreds of thousands of those would be in work.

Source: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/headlinelabourforcesurveyindicatorsforscotlandhi11

In December 2025, we saw the same disappearing of the news on BBC Scotland

in the three months to October it has increased to just over 5% according to official figures.

BBC Breakfast had an extended piece this morning on the above concern for the UK (sic), the ‘highest level since 2021′ with a focus on young people

Though it was mentioned on the BBC Scotland Business website (below), BBC Scotland TV broadcasts did not cover the issue even though it might have been informative for their audience. Why?

First, UK Unemployment surges to massive 35% higher than in Scotland – will ‘SNP’ Government get the credit just as they would have been blamed if it was the other way round?

These two headlines today and the full text, reveal the agenda in editorial decision-making, in BBC Scotland reporting, to conceal good news about Scotland, after 18 years of SNP rule.

Imagine the figures were the other way round, they would have been compared, like the drug deaths, and the worse figure linked to government mismanagement with a quote from an opposition politician.

Obliged to report the change of 0.1%, from 3.8% to 3.7%, they refer to that as ‘slight’ knowing most will accept that only 0.1% does seem small and concealing the fact that it refers to more than 1 000 people, out of the 101 000 out of work.

More significant, the 5% figure for the UK is 35% higher than the 3.7% figure for Scotland, meaning that more than 30 000 in Scotland are in work because they are in Scotland. Who gets the credit? I know, it’s complex, but if it was the other way round, you know who’d be blamed.

Second, why is unemployment so much lower in Scotland than in the UK as a whole?

As I said at the outset, it is complex and an AI answer offers 5 main factors which you can read at the link below, but it does include at number 3:

Devolved employability and skills policies: Scottish Government initiatives, such as £90m+ in employability services for 2025–26 (targeting disabilities and long-term health conditions), have supported labour market entry and retention. These contrast with UK-wide challenges, where inactivity remains higher in some regions.^{1, 2}

Sources:

1. https://www.insider.co.uk/news/unemployment-rate-scotland-fell-slightly-35570882
2. https://x.com/i/grok?conversation=1988180142561038748

Third, UK youth unemployment is 40% higher than in Scotland which has one of the lowest rates in Western Europe

The above 2022 survey does not include the recent data from the UK.

For Scotland in 2023/2024:

The estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.4 per cent in October 2023 to September 2024. This was 0.7 percentage points (pp) higher than a year ago (9.7 per cent) ¹

For the UK, in 2023:

The unemployment rate for young people was 14.2%, up from 13.8% from the year before.²

These data would put Scotland in the second lowest category (8-12%) with Finland and the Baltic States, while the UK (England) would be in a higher category with (12-16%) with France and Portugal.

Sources:

1. https://www.gov.scot/publications/labour-market-statistics-for-16-to-24-year-olds-scotland-and-the-united-kingdom-october-2023-to-september-2024/pages/unemployment/#:~:text=The%20estimated%20unemployment%20rate%20for%2016%20to%2024,October%202018%20to%20September%202019%20%289.1%20per%20cent%29.
2. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05871/

Third, Scotland’s 16-24 year-olds – significantly more employment, less unemployment and more activity

In February 2025, BBC UK had the above headline and:

More young people were not in work, education or training at the end of 2024 than at any point in the past 11 years, new data suggests.

but from Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom – January to December 2024 published today:

Compared with the United Kingdom as a whole:

the estimated employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was higher (54.8% compared to 51.3 per cent)

the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was lower (10.8% compared to 12.2%)

the estimated inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was lower (38.6% compared to 41.6%) https://www.gov.scot/publications/labour-market-statistics-for-16-to-24-year-olds-scotland-and-the-united-kingdom-january-to-december-2024/

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