Unemployment in Scotland rises sharply

Hello and welcome to our daily digest of business, financial and economic news from around Scotland.

1. Unemployment in Scotland has risen sharply, with fewer people in work, according to official data.

The unemployment rate was 4.9 per cent for the March to May period, a rise of 0.8 percentage points on the previous three months.

That meant there were about 133,000 people seeking work, an increase of 22,000 on the prior quarter.

The UK unemployment rate was at 4.4 per cent, up 0.1 percentage point, across March to May.

Scotland’s employment rate dropped by 1.3 percentage points, or about 20,000 people, to 72.9 per cent, which was below the UK level of 74.4 per cent.

There was also a 0.6 percentage point