West Lothian unemployment rate lower than Scottish & UK average

The UK jobless rate increased to 4.3% between January and March, the highest since May to July last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The number of vacancies also slowed meaning more unemployed people are competing for the same jobs.

West Lothian Council use the DWP Claimant count which is slightly more reliable measure of unemployment than ONS's general estimate of unemployment rate which is based on a large sample of individuals surveyed every month in the UK Labour Force Survey.

Claimant count for West Lothian is 3,155 at 2.7% for April 2024, which is lower than the Scottish rate (3.1%) and the British rate (3.8%). The latest rate is slightly lower than March. The rate for April is now below the level seen around January 2020 (pre-Covid baseline).  Compared to the national picture, West Lothian's claimant rate has remained stable and comparative to the same rate for this time last year (2.8% April 2023).

The Bank of England has confirmed that it is monitoring whether the labour market cools sufficiently, and for wage growth to slow, to achieve a return to their 2% inflation target which would also reflect an easing of the Cost of Living crisis. BoE has continued to hold the base interest rate at 5.25% and are waiting for inflation to fall before reducing the bank rate. Inflation has decreased sharply in recent months, with the consumer prices index falling to 3.2% in March 2024 (down from 3.4% in February), however, this still remains above the Bank of England's target. Inflation is expected to return to close to the 2% target over the next few months.

Executive councillor for the economy, community empowerment and wealth building Kirsteen Sullivan, said: "West Lothian continues to perform well in a very challenging economic environment and we continue to sit below both the UK and Scottish average for unemployment. The local economy provides a supportive backdrop to fast growing companies. Increasingly people are choosing West Lothian as the location for a new business, taking advantage of road, rail and airport routes."

"The labour market in West Lothian is in a good place, overall.

"Although the data highlights small percentage points, they represent local residents, and every full percentage point represents 1,000 people. So it is important that we analyse closely where we are , and do the very best that we can.

"West Lothian puts a huge emphasis on working in partnership with local businesses to promote better paid employment in the area."

Source: ONS Claimant count by sex and age

Note: % is the number of claimants as a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64 and gender

Source: ONS Claimant count by sex and age

Note: % is the number of claimants as a proportion of resident population of the same age

UK wage growth still high despite unemployment rise - BBC News