Business News Round Up (23/02/2021)
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UK unemployment rate at highest for almost five years
The UK’s unemployment rose to 5.1% in the three months to December, a five-year high, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics said 1.74 million people were unemployed in the October to December period, up 454,000 from the same quarter in 2019. The figures show 726,000 fewer people are currently in payrolled employment than before the start of the pandemic. Almost three-fifths of this fall, 425,000, has come from those aged under-25. However, the ONS said that there were some “tentative early signs” of the labour market stabilising. There was a small increase in the numbers of employees paid through payroll over the past couple of months. In January 2021, 83,000 more people were in payrolled employment when compared with the previous month.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56165929
Scotland’s jobless rate remains below UK level
Scotland’s unemployment rate has fallen to 4.5% over the last quarter, official figures show. The UK rate rose in the three months to December and is now at 5.1%, its highest level for nearly five years, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). The employment rate in Scotland fell slightly over the same period to 73.7%. The Scottish government said the figures did not reflect the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Separate HMRC early estimates for January 2021, also published on Tuesday, show there were 2,331,000 payrolled employees in Scotland – an increase of 8,000 from December 2020. However, the figure is 68,000 lower than a year ago.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-56165671
Made Smarter Industry 4.0 pilot to expand across North and Midlands
A North West pilot which has helped hundreds of SME manufacturers access technology and digital tools to boost productivity, growth and create jobs is to continue as part of a £8M government rollout. The successful initiative becomes part of the government’s Made Smarter Adoption programme, which now expands into the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the West Midlands regions. It means hundreds of more manufacturers in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Liverpool City Region, will be able to learn how digital transformation can help them recover, grow, and create resilience.
Clyde waterfront transformation can support up to 700 jobs
Construction of the Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project will help to create jobs now, generate vital work for local suppliers and accelerate Renfrewshire’s recovery from the economic impact of Covid-19. That’s according to a new report being considered next week by Renfrewshire Council’s Leadership Board which sets out the Final Business Case behind the UK and Scottish Government funded Glasgow City Region City Deal project. New economic analysis reveals 700 new and existing jobs will be needed to complete construction of the project which is ready to start by Spring and expected to take three years to complete. Planning consent is in place for the project to transform the Clyde waterfront, which includes a two-lane opening road bridge over the River Clyde from Renfrew to the boundary between Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire.