Scottish independence: One in 10 jobs linked to UK trade, Treasury says
More than one in 10 jobs in Scotland are linked to trade with the rest of the UK, according to the Treasury.
The UK government department has published analysis claiming that almost 270,000 jobs depend on trade within the UK market.
The Treasury said the Union was important for "the security of jobs and livelihoods in Scotland".
The Scottish government said an independent Scotland "will still be the rest of the UK's main trading partner".
The Treasury said that 100,000 of the jobs it claimed were dependant on the UK link were done by women, while more than one in three were done by under-35s.
A majority of the 270,000 jobs - 180,000 - were in the services sector, including 43,000 in financial services, the analysis stated.
It also said total Scottish exports were worth £72bn per year, with £51bn worth of goods exported to the rest of the UK.
"The economic evidence shows that a borderless UK is a key part of Scotland's economic success," the Treasury said.
"The analysis demonstrates how important the UK's fully integrated single market is for the security of jobs and livelihoods in Scotland."
The Treasury's analysis was based on research carried out by Prof Brian Ashcroft of Strathclyde Business School.
Prof Ashcroft's research identified several categories of job that were dependant on the UK, including people who worked for companies owned or controlled in the rest of the UK, and companies exporting from Scotland to the rest of the UK.
The research also examined the areas of the public sector which are not devolved to the Scottish government, UK public sector contracts for Scottish companies, and the Scottish research and development sector financed by UK grants.
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has unveiled a ten-point plan aimed at job creation and boosting unemployment in an independent Scotland.
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "An independent Scotland will still be the rest of the UK's main trading partner - and the biggest threat to Scotland's economy is from Westminster's proposed in-out referendum on EU membership, which risks taking Scotland out of a single market of more than half a billion people.
"We believe the economic gains of independence and the reindustrialisation of the Scottish economy will deliver trade, investment and supply chain benefits for both Scotland and the rest of the UK, and help to further increase Scottish exports."