North East MSP Mike Rumbles has called for support for local industries after alarming employment figures, released by the Scottish Government today, show that Aberdeen City saw the sharpest fall in employment of any local authority area in Scotland in 2015/16.

Employment in the city fell by 6.4 percent that year, from 76.7 percent in 2015 to 70.3 percent in 2016. Figures for last year show a marked improvement with employment returning to 76.1 percent in 2017.

Mr Rumbles said: “It is testament to the remarkable resilience of our local industries that employment has managed to bounce back in the region. But there are still many struggling families that have received very little support from either the Scottish Government or the UK Government.

“We now know that Aberdeen was the worst hit by the 2015/16 slump in employment in Scotland, yet I do not recall the SNP government lifting a finger to help.

“For decades past governments have used our industries as a cash cow. On top of that, our local services and health care are the worst funded in Scotland. It is time that some of that investment was returned to the North East.

“The Scottish Government must now recognise that fact and begin the process of reinvesting in our industries and services in the North East.”

ENDS

Notes for editors:

• Find the full Scottish Government Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland report at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0053/00535590.pdf
• (Page 8) ‘The employment rate in Scotland recovered again between 2016 and 2017 after decreasing slightly the year before. Decreasing by 0.1 percentage points from 73.1 per cent in 2015 to 73.0 per cent in 2016. The largest decrease in 2015 to 2016 for an individual local authority was in Aberdeen City with the employment rate falling from 76.7 per cent* in 2015 to 70.3 per cent in 2016.’
• 2017 Regional Employment in Scotland: