Recession 'worsening in Scotland'

Oct 17 2012

The recession in Scotland has deepened, the latest figures have revealed.

Statistics showed that gross domestic product (GDP), a broad measurement of the country's economic performance, fell by 0.4% in the second quarter of this year.

It comes as revised figures showed that GDP shrank by 0.2% in the first three months of the year.

The electricity and gas sector suffered a fall of 15.1% in the second quarter of 2012 - making it the largest contributor to the overall fall in GDP. The manufacturing sector also shrank by 2.2% over the same period, while the distribution, hotels and catering industry contracted by 1.5%.

These were in part offset by growth in both the construction sector and the services sector, with these increasing by 2% and 0.2% respectively.

The latest GDP statistics for Scotland were published at the same time as separate figures showed unemployment north of the border is rising, in contrast with the UK as a whole where the jobless total is falling.

The statistics were revealed two days after Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Alex Salmond signed off on a deal that will deliver a legally binding independence referendum in 2014.

Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "In the week of the Edinburgh Agreement we could not have a clearer example of why Scotland needs the full powers of independence."

She hit out at the UK Government's "self-defeating" programme of austerity measures and insisted: "Today's figures show once again that Scotland is suffering under the UK Government's do-nothing economic policy."

However Tory finance spokesman Gavin Brown criticised the "rash decisions" of the SNP Government, adding: "The SNP has to start delivering instead of simply talking about growth, and scrap its Scotland-only taxes which are harming business."