Labour market

In 2011, 2.5 million people aged between 16 and 74 were employed.

That's 62.8% of the 4 million people aged 16 to 74 in Scotland.

Just over half of those people worked more than 38 hours per week in their main job. 39.1% worked between 38 and 48 hours a week, and 11.7% worked 48 hours a week or more.

It was more common for women to work part-time than men. 43.8% of women aged 16 to 74 worked part-time, compared to 13.1% of men.

What people do

Health and social work and retail employed the most people in Scotland.

About 15% of Scotland's workforce, or 377,000 people, worked in health and social work and retail.

Education employed about 8.4% of Scotland's workforce. Manufacturing and constructing each employed about another 8% of working people in Scotland.

Ethnic groups

17% of people in the White Scottish ethnic group worked in the manufacturing and construction industries. While 13% of ethnic minorities were employed in these industries.

28% of the African ethnic group were employed in the health and social work industry. That proportion rose to 41% among African people aged 50 to 64.

Age

The proportion of people working in retail decreased with age. 35.3% of employed people aged 16 to 19 worked in retail, compared to 12.5% of people aged 45 to 64.

Gender

82% of people working in caring, leisure and other service occupations were female.

90% of people working in skilled trades occupations were male.

31.0% of people aged between 16 and 74 were not working or looking for work.

This is called being economically inactive.

People who are economically inactive may be:

• retired
• stay-at-home parents
• too sick to work

More women were economically inactive than men.

6.2% of women were economically inactive because they were looking after their home or family. 0.8% of men were economically inactive for the same reason.

Almost 200,000 people aged 16 to 74 had never worked or were in long-term unemployment. About half of these people had no qualifications.