THE Scottish and UK governments have welcomed a record quarterly rise in employment and a fall in unemployment.
Data out yesterday showed a rise in employment of 54,000 from January to March compared with the previous three month period.
The increase, the biggest quarterly jump since records began in their present form in 1992, took the total in work to 2.517 million.
Meanwhile the headline jobless total fell by 7000 to 199,000.
The fall compared to a 15,000 rise in UK unemployment, taking the jobless total to 2.52 million. Scotland's unemployment rate was 7.3% and the UK's was 7.8%.
There was further good news for young jobseekers in Scotland as the youth un-employment rate continued its downward trend.
The January to March figure showed 67,000 16 to 24-year-olds were out of work. Scotland's youth unemployment rate was 16.6%, lower than the UK rate of 20.3%.
However, the claimant count, showing the number of Scots out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance, rose by 100 from the March total to 136,800 for April.
The Office for National Statistics figures showed wages were not keeping pace with inflation. Pay fell by 0.4% across the UK in March, the first drop since 2009.
First Minister Alex Salmond said Scotland was outperforming the UK but the country's recovery remained at risk from UK Government economic policies.
He said: "We are working hard to get people back into work and to create opportunities for our young people. The Westminster Government's continued pursuit of austerity over economic recovery is the biggest risk to Scotland's economic recovery. Without the tools of independence to do the job properly Scotland risks being caught up in the UK's slipstream."
Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretary, claimed the positive figures were the result of his Government's policies.
He said: "The latest labour market figures are another welcome step in the right direction and it is good news that Scotland is doing well as part of UK.
"This shows the measures we are taking on the economy are working."
Business organisations CBI Scotland and the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland welcomed the figures but the Scottish Secretary acknowledged: "There is still a long way to go and unemployment remains a huge concern for families and individuals in Scotland."
His caution was echoed by trade union body, the STUC, which said that despite successive falls in the number of people unemployed the overall drop was just 5000 compared with six months ago.
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