Employment Up, But Growing Slowly

Employment is up in Scotland, but it is growing at the slowest rate for nearly two years.

The number of permanent positions rose last month, with the nursing and IT sectors seeing the biggest demand for staff. Starting salaries are also rising, as are wages for temps.

Although remaining well above the 50.0 ‘no-change’ mark and signalling a further overall improvement in Scottish labour market conditions, the Bank of Scotland Labour Market Barometer slipped to a 22-month low in April, registering 59.1 from 60.6 in March. That was well below the corresponding index for the UK as a whole, which climbed to the highest since last September.
 
Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, said:

“Scotland’s labour market continued to improve in the month.  The number of people appointed to both permanent and temporary jobs rose modestly while the number of vacancies increased in the month. Starting salaries rose sharply and temp pay rates increased.  

"These results suggest the Scottish economy continued to grow, albeit at a modest pace, in April.”