Dundee has suffered an “alarming” drop in the number of people in employment, The Courier can reveal.
There are now just 58,100 people of working age who currently have a job in the city a drop of more than 10% in the last three years.
Outgoing council chief executive David Dorward said that a “new economic development strategy” would be deployed to help tackle the tumbling employment numbers.
He is also hoping to revive the so-called memorandum of understanding to bring 700 renewables jobs to the City of Discovery a deal which was thought to have fallen by the wayside after a key partner, SSE, said it was no longer a priority.
Labour leader Kevin Keenan expressed his concern at the figures and said that politicians should work across the political divide to rectify the problem.
He told The Courier: “The decline in employment figures is quite alarming.”
“It is something that we certainly need to work collectively and across the political boundaries to make sure there is a solution to it.”
But he added that people in the city “should not hold their breath” over renewables jobs.
“The First Minister signed the memorandum of understanding saying that he was bringing 700 extra jobs to the city and it is just as well we are not holding our breath waiting for that to happen,” Mr Keenan said.
“It really is quite disappointing. But we need to look to others for instance, Aberdeen, to see if any oil-related jobs can be brought that bit further down the coast,” he added.
The employment figures are one of a number of areas covered in a wide-ranging review of council services in the city.
The largely positive report highlights a number of recent successes for the local authority, such as increases in literacy and numeracy among primary children measured at P4.
The number of school-leavers reaching positive destinations is also continuing to rise. However, the number of homes being built in Dundee has also tumbled, with only 209 built in the last 12 months.
That compares poorly with the 299 built in the 2012/13 financial year and 339 in the 2011/12 financial year.
Mr Dorward, who is departing as chief executive next month, said: “The council plan contains 154 performance indicators and it is improving or sustained a target level of performance on 83% of these in its priority performance indicators.”
Listing some the council’s key achievements, he added: “The council again delivered a balanced budget which is a major achievement in the current fiscal constraints.
“As part of delivering the waterfront, the Olympia and rail station have now been demolished and the temporary rail station is working effectively.
“There have been huge benefits to Dundee derived through the process of being a finalist for the City of Culture. There are ongoing discussions with the Scottish Government about how to capitalise on the positive profile achieved,” he added.