SCOTLAND’S jobless total has fallen by 15,000 between December and February, according to official figures, taking the unemployment rate below the UK average.

The number of unemployed people in Scotland is now 123,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is down by 47,000 over the last year. The UK figure dropped by 45,000 over the same quarter.

It means the percentage of the Scottish workforce not in employment fell to 4.5 per cent, a half-point drop over the quarter and 1.6 per cent over the year. As a result, Scotland’s unemployment rate was lower than the 4.7 per cent recorded across the UK as a whole.

However, the figures also show the number of Scots in work fell 8000 over the period, with the total down to 2,596,000. Scotland’s employment rate was recorded as being 73.4 per cent, which is below the UK average of 74.6 per cent. Economic activity – which measures the number of people who are in work combined with those actively seeking a job – fell 24,000 over the quarter and by 60,000 over the year to stand at 2,719,000.

The data also recorded a small fall in the number of Scots who are out of work and claiming jobseeker’s allowance, with the total down by 100 from February to March to stand at 47,600 – 10,400 lower than in March 2016. The figures came a week after GDP statistics showed Scotland’s economy shrank in the final three months of 2016.

Employability and Training Minister Jamie Hepburn said the SNP Government is doing everything it can to support employment, citing Brexit as being the biggest threat to jobs.

He said: “Despite economic challenges, these latest figures show Scotland’s labour market remains resilient with unemployment falling and our female employment rates and youth unemployment rates outperforming the UK. While we are doing all we can to support employment, clearly the biggest threat to Scotland’s labour market continues to be a hard Brexit, which threatens to cost our economy up to £11bn a year from 2030, and cost the country 80,000 jobs over a decade.”

Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “The UK Government is supporting the Scottish economy with over £1 billion new investment through the autumn statement and spring budget, on top of UK-wide investment in science, R&D and connectivity.”

Liberal Democrat economy spokeswoman Carolyn Caddick said Scotland’s economic performance was “patchy”.

She said: “Our employment level lags stubbornly behind the UK’s. The threat of another independence referendum is creating real uncertainty.”

Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish TUC, warned the fall in joblessness hid an “underlying weakness” in the economy, adding that “urgent action is needed to reverse the decline in real wages, to boost confidence and activity in the Scottish economy.”

CBI Scotland director Hugh Aitken called on ministers to set a “competitive” tax regime.

He said: “Improving educational attainment and setting a competitive tax regime to ensure Scotland continues to be an attractive place to do business and create jobs should be priorities in Holyrood.”