Fall in Unemployment Welcome But Eurozone Clouds Loom

Commenting on the news that Scottish unemployment fell by 10,000 in the three months to March, Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:

'The news that Scottish unemployment has fallen by a substantial figure for the second consecutive month and that employment has risen by 24,000 demonstrates that even in the midst of tough economic challenges, Scotland's private sector is up to the task of creating the jobs that could power our economy back towards growth.

'However, as the Governor of the Bank of England has said, the Eurozone crisis provides a major external threat to our economy going forward and the current strength of sterling against the Euro could damage the competitiveness of many of our exports.

'This latest fall in unemployment is extremely welcome, but we must be guarded on future growth prospects until a clear plan emerges to deal with the situation in Europe.  In the meantime, Scottish Chambers of Commerce are working with Government and our network to help address the worrying underlying problem of the large numbers of highly skilled and qualified young people still looking for work opportunities.'