Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds: Scotland and the United Kingdom - July 2023 to June 2024
Statistics from the Annual Population Survey covering the period from July 2023 to June 2024.
All ONS APS-based outputs will be re-designated as official statistics in development until further review.
At the time of this publication (11 September 2024), Office for National Statistics (ONS) outputs using Annual Population Survey (APS) data were designated as Accredited Official Statistics. Since then, ONS have carried out analysis to assess the quality of APS estimates. The impact of falling sample sizes in addition to the APS estimates not being reweighted to use the latest population totals have led ONS, in agreement with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), to temporarily suspend the accreditation of all APS-based outputs.
Further details on this can be found in the exchange between ONS and OSR: Michael Keoghan to Siobhan Tuohy-Smith: Request to suspend APS accreditation – Office for Statistics Regulation
The Scottish Government’s Labour Market Statistics for 16 to 24 year olds publication includes employment, unemployment and economic inactivity estimates for 16 to 24 year olds as well as suitable breakdowns for these such as sex and full-time education status. These statistics are taken from the APS and therefore the estimates included will no longer be Accredited Official Statistics.
We continue to be transparent with our users around the quality of the APS estimates used within our releases and provide guidance on the use and limitations of the data. Please note, due to the falling sample sizes in recent years, the increased uncertainty around the estimates included in this release can be assessed using the confidence intervals provided. We have also applied shading and suppression for those estimates that are based on small sample sizes using the current ONS Measuring and reporting reliability of Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey estimates guidance and additional analysis of an estimate’s coefficient of variation.
We continue to assess the quality of APS estimates included within our publications and will provide updates to our users. On 14th November 2024, the Chief Statistician published a statement on the Annual Population survey, this can be found here: Statistics Statement from the Chief Statistician on the Annual Population Survey - Statistics
This publication contains the latest estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for 16 to 24 year olds. Estimates are for Scotland and the United Kingdom and cover the period July 2023 to June 2024. Data are sourced from the Annual Population Survey (APS), first released on 11 September 2024 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS Annual Population Survey is the Accredited Official Statistics source for labour market indicators by region and age. Accredited Official Statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.
APS estimates remain Accredited Official Statistics at this time. However, ONS are currently carrying out analysis to assess the impact of falling sample sizes on the quality of APS estimates.
Key Points
The latest ONS Annual Population Survey (APS) data are for July 2023 to June 2024. The latest estimates for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland show the unemployment rate had decreased slightly over the year, the employment rate had increased, and the economic inactivity rate had decreased.
In Scotland in July 2023 to June 2024:
- the estimated employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 56.4 per cent
- the estimated unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 10.0 per cent
- the estimated economic inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 37.3 per cent
Compared with the previous year:
- the employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds increased by 0.6 percentage points
- the unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds decreased by 0.1 percentage points
- the inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds decreased by 0.7 percentage points
Compared with the United Kingdom as a whole:
- the employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was higher (56.4 per cent compared to 52.6 per cent)
- the unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was lower (10.0 per cent compared to 11.0 per cent)
- the inactivity rate for 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland was lower (37.3 per cent compared to 40.9 per cent)
Comparing men and women aged 16 to 24 years in Scotland:
- the estimated employment rate for men was lower than women (55.7 per cent compared to 57.2 per cent)
- the estimated unemployment rate for men was higher than women (11.9 per cent compared to 8.1 per cent)
- the estimated economic inactivity rate for men was lower than women (36.8 per cent compared to 37.8 per cent)
The estimated unemployment rate for women aged 16 to 24 years is from a small sample size. This estimate should be used with caution.
Estimates by local authority are not included in the commentary of this publication this quarter, although these estimates are provided in tables 8 and 9. This is due to increasing uncertainty around the survey estimates. While estimates remain robust for headline measures at Scotland level, an increasing number of estimates at local authority level are based on a small sample size which should be used with caution.
Contact
For enquiries about this publication please contact:
Labour Market Statistics,
Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Telephone: 0131 244 6773,
E-mail: LMStats@gov.scot
For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:
Office of the Chief Statistician
E-mail: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot
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