Scotland's jobless total has fallen for the second month in a row, according to new figures.

The number of people claiming benefit fell by 800 in August to 101,100.

The seasonally adjusted figure is down by 2,300 over the year, giving an unemployment rate of 4%.

The government's preferred figure from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) also showed a dramatic fall.

The ILO figure, which includes people not eligible for benefit, was 164,000 for the three months to July - a drop of 8,000 on the previous quarter.

There's still money in people's pockets and there's a very low level of unemployment

Ross Walker UK economist

The figure, which gave an unemployment rate of 6.4%, was also down by 2,000 on the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) suggested that the number of people in work had risen in the three months to July.

The total of 2,384,000 was up 7,000 on the previous three months although was down 4,000 on the same period last year.

The employment rate amongst those of working age was 73.3% - up 0.2% on the previous three months, but down by a similar level on 12 months ago.

Lowest level

The figures were published by the Office of National Statistics.

Across the UK unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for almost 27 years.

Ross Walker, UK economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said the figures were relatively surprising.

"Everyone is looking at the global economy and saying the recovery could be slower, weaker and later than expected," he said.

"In the UK we need the consumer to keep going and from a consumer point of view these numbers are quite encouraging.

"There's a modest upturn in wage growth, so there's still money in people's pockets and there's a very low level of unemployment."