Expert: Economic resilience on show

Sep 17 2012

The Scottish economy is showing some resilience in the face of the global slowdown, an expert has said.

Donald MacRae, chief economist at the Bank of Scotland, also said there had been a "welcome improvement" in the labour market last month. The claim comes despite appointments to permanent jobs falling for the second month in a row.

But Scottish recruitment firms reported higher average salaries in August compared to the reductions experienced in June and July. Last month also saw a sharp increase in the number of people who found temporary work.

The latest Bank of Scotland Report on jobs said that one in three recruitment agencies reported a rise in the number of people placed in temporary positions, with growth in the area the fastest for four months. As well as higher average salaries for permanent posts, recruitment firms said that hourly pay rates for temporary workers had also risen, with the rate of increase in the area the strongest in five months.

Demand for permanent staff increased further in August, with recruitment agencies reporting a rise in vacancies. Scottish recruiters also reported an increase in the number of temporary positions available last month.

The jobs report is just one part of the Bank of Scotland's labour market barometer - which aims to provide a snapshot of the jobs market. This signalled a modest improvement in the Scottish job market conditions. While it rose to a three-month high, it still remained below the long-term average.

Mr MacRae said: "The Scottish labour market showed a welcome improvement in August with increases in temporary jobs and a rise in vacancies for both permanent and temporary jobs. However, appointments to permanent jobs fell for the second successive month, illustrating the challenge of maintaining the overall trend of increasing employment."

But he added: "The Scottish economy is showing resilience in the face of the global slowdown."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government and our agencies are supporting economic recovery by investing every penny we can in capital infrastructure to build houses, schools and roads to stimulate growth and create jobs.

"Within the powers that we have this government is pulling every available lever to support employment. There is no doubt that with the full fiscal powers of independence, the Scottish Government could do even more to strengthen our economy."