Employment falls in East Lothian and Midlothian as pay rises to £2,710 a month
WageSight Wire · Jul 2026
- Employment
- 94,863 workers (June 2026)
- Monthly change
- -0.1% (-68 workers)
- Annual change
- -0.2% (-191 workers)
- Median pay
- £2,710/month (YoY: +5.1%, £131 more in cash terms)
- Total pay bill
- +7.4% on the year
- Real pay vs Feb 2022
- +£82 better off in real terms
Payrolled employment in East Lothian and Midlothian fell 0.2% over the year to June 2026, 191 fewer workers, with a further monthly dip of 0.1% sustaining the downward pressure.
Across Scotland, payrolled employment was broadly flat, down 0.1% over the year to June 2026. East Lothian and Midlothian ranked 12th of 20 sub-regional areas in Scotland by employment change over the past year.
The median pay packet for workers in East Lothian and Midlothian stood at £2,710 in June 2026, up 5.1% over the past year and ahead of inflation at 2.82%. After a period of sharp inflation from 2022 that eroded real earnings, wages have been recovering. Workers in East Lothian and Midlothian are now £82 a month better off in real terms than in February 2022, when median earnings stood at £2,103 a month. The total pay bill in East Lothian and Midlothian rose 7.4% over the year, faster than headcount, suggesting average earnings per worker are improving.
Nationally, payrolled employment was broadly flat, down 0.2% over the year to June 2026. Across the UK, 599,257 workers entered payrolled employment in May 2026, the most recently available flow data, while 596,423 left, a net gain of 2,834 workers.
“Employers in East Lothian and Midlothian have reported a significant dip in payroll in the latest figures. It's too early to tell if this is businesses bracing agains the impact of the current economic uncertainty on inflation. On the flip side, wages for those in work continues to surge. The positive story is that workers in East Lothian and Midlothian are seeing their pay packets grow. That's money in people's pockets, and it matters for local businesses and public services. But there will be understandable concern at the employment picture.”
— Paul Hebden, Campaign Salience
Scotland — employment and pay
| # | Area | Workers | Jobs (yr) | Median pay | Pay (yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire | 162,243 | +0.4% | £2,763 | +5.5% |
| 2 | South Lanarkshire | 150,815 | +0.2% | unknown | unknown |
| 3 | Caithness and Sutherland, and Ross and Cromarty | 39,582 | +0.2% | £2,536 | +4.4% |
| 4 | Inverness and Nairn, Moray, and Badenoch and Strathspey | 93,425 | +0.1% | unknown | unknown |
| 5 | Glasgow City | 276,199 | +0.1% | unknown | unknown |
| 6 | North Lanarkshire | 157,840 | +0.1% | unknown | unknown |
| 7 | South Ayrshire | 44,789 | +0.0% | unknown | unknown |
| 8 | Clackmannanshire and Fife | 182,544 | +0.0% | £2,631 | +4.8% |
| 9 | City of Edinburgh | 252,583 | +0.0% | unknown | unknown |
| 10 | West Lothian | 87,689 | +0.0% | unknown | unknown |
| 11 | North Ayrshire and East Ayrshire | 104,380 | -0.2% | £2,649 | +5.4% |
| 12 | East Lothian and Midlothian | 94,863 | -0.2% | £2,710 | +5.1% |
| 13 | Perth and Kinross, and Stirling | 107,794 | -0.2% | £2,628 | +4.0% |
| 14 | Angus and Dundee City | 113,509 | -0.3% | £2,556 | +5.1% |
| 15 | Falkirk | 74,473 | -0.4% | unknown | unknown |
| 16 | Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh, Arran and Cumbrae, and Argyll and Bute | 41,507 | -0.4% | £2,466 | +5.2% |
| 17 | Dumfries and Galloway | 58,524 | -0.4% | unknown | unknown |
| 18 | Scottish Borders | 47,125 | -0.7% | unknown | unknown |
| 19 | East Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, and Helensburgh and Lomond | 10,024 | -0.9% | £2,776 | +3.8% |
| 20 | Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire | 225,510 | -1.1% | £2,779 | +3.9% |
Notes to editors
Figures from WageSight, derived from ONS / HMRC PAYE Real Time Information. Full method at wagesight.com/methodology.
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