The Chief Secretary to the Treasury's proposed meeting will also involve Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, as well as the employment ministers in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
The move follows calls from First Minister Alex Salmond, that, given the rising tide of unemployment across the UK – now almost 2.7 million or 8.4% of the working population – there is an urgent need for ministers who represent different parts of the country to meet to work out the best strategy to tackle it.
