Scotland has seen another big fall in unemployment, with the latest figures showing the jobless total fell by 14,000.
Official statistics revealed the number of people classed as unemployed – which includes those out of work and not eligible for benefits – dropped to 207,000 in the three months from September to November last year.
It comes after last month’s figures showed Scotland had seen the biggest fall in unemployment for more than four years when joblessness fell by 19,000.
There are now 23,000 fewer people out of work than there were in the period September to November 2011.
The figures also revealed the number of people out of work and claiming jobseekers allowance fell by 1,400 from November to a new total of 137,500 in December – 4,400 less than the last month of 2011.
But the number of people in employment has also fallen, decreasing by 24,000 to stand at 2,466,000 in September to November.
While this was down on the previous three months, the employment total is 1,000 higher than the same period in 2011.
Scotland’s unemployment rate is now slightly higher than that for the UK as a whole at 7.8%, compared to 7.7%.
