NO PART of Tayside and Fife meets the Department of Work and Pensions national target for the number of people of working age in employment.

Statistics issued by the GMB trade union show only four of the 25 areas across the UK which do meet the 80% target are in Scotland, with both Orkney and the Shetlands in the top three at 85.3% and 85% respectively.

Dundee is 28th out of the 32 areas in Scotland—fifth lowest—with 70.9% of the working age population in employment, while Fife is 15th with 77.4%, Angus is at 13 with 77.6% and Perth and Kinross at 11, with 78.4%.

Scotland as a whole has an average employment rate of 74.7%, better than the UK’s 74.4%, while Scotland’s lowest of 65.3% in Glasgow is considerably higher than the lowest three in the UK, all of them in London and ranging between 55.5% and 56%.

The figures, covering the period from October 2004 to last September, are taken from the annual population survey published by the Office of National Statistics.

The UK region with the highest employment rate is the South East at 79%, while the lowest is Northern Ireland at 68.9%. Four other regions have a higher employment rate than Scotland and seven have a rate that is below Scotland.

Last spring the government established a “long-term aspiration” to secure an employment rate of 80% of the population of working age.

Harry Donaldson, GMB Scottish secretary said, “The employment rate in many parts of the region is far too low.

“Greater economic regeneration is needed in these areas and must be given a high priority.

“To create these new jobs will take time and a lot of investment and will require co-operation between public and private sectors.

“In the meantime, the government must not force people off benefits in search of non-existent jobs.”