Scotland's unemployment rate has fallen to record lows but workers have seen their pay fall further behind rocketing inflation, according to official figures.
The rate of unemployment for people over 16 between January and March this year was 3.2 per cent - down 0.9 per cent on the previous quarter.
It comes as wages fell by 1.2 per cent in the same three-month period.
In the UK, unemployment dropped to 3.7 per cent - the lowest since October to December 1974, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
For the first time, there were fewer unemployed people than job vacancies, although the fall in the rate was also down to a rise in the number of people dropping out of the jobs market, the figures showed.
The ONS also laid bare the scale of the mounting cost-of-living crisis, revealing that regular pay excluding bonuses dropped by 2.9% in March when taking Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation into account - the biggest fall since November 2011.
In the three months to February, real regular pay was 2 per cent lower, the steepest decline since 2013.
It comes in spite of another pick up - of 4.2 per cent - in regular average pay in the quarter.
Pay including bonuses jumped 7 per cent and was up 9.9 per cent in March as firms ramped up rewards for staff amid a booming jobs market.
The latest ONS labour market data also confirmed another rise in the number of UK workers on payrolls, up 121,000 between March and April to 29.5 million.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said the data showed a "mixed picture for the labour market".
He said: "Total employment, while up on the quarter, remains below its pre-pandemic level.
"Since the start of the pandemic, around half a million more people have completely disengaged from the labour market.
"Indeed, with the latest fall in unemployment, to its lowest rate since 1974, there were actually fewer unemployed people than job vacancies for the first time since records began.
"Continued strong bonuses in some sectors such as construction and especially finance mean that total pay is continuing to grow faster than prices on average, but underlying regular earnings are now falling sharply in real terms."
Scotland's Employment Minister Richard Lochhead welcomed the employment figures but said the economy still faces challenges.
He added: "For January to March 2022, Scotland’s estimated employment rate rose over the quarter to 75.6% while the estimated unemployment rate fell to a record low of 3.2 per cent.
"Separate HMRC early estimates show 2.42 million payrolled employees in Scotland in April 2022, 29,000 more than in February 2020, prior to the pandemic.
"While we continue to face economic challenges, with the rising cost of living, the negative effects of Brexit and the economic impacts of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Scottish Government remains committed to doing all we can to help our economy recover."
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