Business News Round Up (13/12/2022)
Scotland’s employment rate hits joint record high
Scotland’s employment rate rose to a joint record high in the last quarter. The employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 75.9% between August and October, up 0.7% on the previous three-month period, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This was the joint highest since the labour force survey series began in 1992, with the employment rate last reaching 75.9% in February to April 2019. The employment rate for women in Scotland aged 16 to 64 was 75.6% in the latest quarter – also the highest since the series began. However, unemployment in Scotland increased slightly last quarter. Between August and October, the unemployment rate among those aged 16 and over was 3.3%, which was 0.2% up on the previous three months. This was below the UK-wide unemployment rate of 3.7%, which was 0.1% up on the previous quarter. In Scotland there were 2.725 million people aged 16 and over in employment between August and October, while 93,000 in that age group were unemployed. Employment Minister Richard Lochhead, said: “Although the latest GDP data showed a contraction in the economy during the third quarter of 2022, the employment rate for August to October 2022 increased to a joint record high. This is against the backdrop of the serious challenges which businesses are facing from the cost crisis, high inflation, the continued impact of Brexit and the economic consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. Priorities for Thursday’s Scottish Budget 2023-24 include helping families and public services through the cost-of-living crisis and transforming the economy to deliver net zero.”
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotlands-employment-rate-hits-joint-28718996
Worst month for strikes in more than 10 years
The number of working days lost to strikes in October reached the highest in more than a decade, according to official figures. Some 417,000 working days were lost because of labour disputes in October 2022 – the highest since November 2011. The UK has been hit by widespread industrial action this year as workers walkout over pay and conditions. Another set of strikes by rail workers is starting on Tuesday. The UK’s biggest rail union – the RMT – has held a series of strikes since the summer that have shut much of the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales and threaten to hit businesses in the run-up to Christmas. It comes as workers in many other industries down tools, with bus drivers, Royal Mail workers, nurses and highways workers and baggage handlers also striking this week. Sam Beckett, head of economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said that the sectors that have been hardest hit by strike action are transport and storage as well as information and communications. “That’s been largely driven by the rail and mail strikes,” she told the BBC’s Today programme. Workers at Royal Mail who are members of the CWU union will take further strike action on Wednesday and Thursday this week. This will be followed by further walkouts on Christmas Eve.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63949151
Supply issues leave £3.5bn of good unfinished
About £3.5bn of products are in Scottish warehouses awaiting completion because of supply chain delays, according to a new study. The research by Barclays reveals that nearly nine in ten (86%) Scottish businesses are lacking raw materials, ingredients, or component parts to finish off products. For each company this hold up in the supply is valued at an average of over £1.8m. The study – ‘Chain reaction’ – focuses on manufacturing businesses with more than ten employees and found that many of those impacted by supply chain issues were finding ways to overcome the problem. Products in the steel and metals sector are most severely affected, with £9bn worth of goods incomplete – equivalent to almost a fifth (19%) of the sub-sector’s annual turnover across the UK. The most affected consumer goods sector is food and drink, with delays in sourcing ingredients causing a £3bn backlog. A high value of plastic products (£2.6bn) and electronics (£2bn) are also awaiting completion. The trends are reflective of supply chain disruption that has challenged the manufacturing sector since the pandemic and nearly seven in ten (69%) Scottish firms say they are still facing supply issues. This has been exacerbated by the invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the UK’s exit from the EU.
Report finds North’s freight and logistics sector could be worth more than £30 billion
A Freight and Logistics Strategy for the North of England – showcasing the importance of sector as a facilitator for economic growth and ways we can support the move to decarbonising freight – has been launched by Transport for the North (TfN). Analysis shows that by 2050 the sector could be worth over £30 billion to the North’s economy and employ over half a million people. To see growth in the sector investment is required to address three main areas of constraint across the road, rail, and inland waterway networks: network capacity and capability, terminal availability, and decarbonisation. It is the first pan-Northern Freight & Logistics Strategy of this type and complements its Strategic Transport Plan in developing a multimodal freight strategy for the North of England that meets the current and future requirements of our region and the UK economy.