Slow Growth For Scottish Jobs

Staff Placements increased in August but at slowest rate

Growth is slow for Scottish employement levels.

New figures from The Bank of Scotland show that whilst the number of people in work has increased in August, it is at the slowest rate for four months and lower than this time last year. 

Growth in permanent placements is the second slowest in the past 2 years. It also highlighted a stall in permanent wage increases and canididate availabilty. 

Bank of Scotland Labour Market Barometer - a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of labour market conditions - dipped to 56.2 in August, its lowest since May 2013. The barometer was well above the 50.0 ‘no-change’ mark, but was substantially lower than the corresponding UK index which ticked up to a three-month high of 61.7.
 
Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, explains:

"The number of people appointed to both permanent and temporary jobs rose in August as did the number of vacancies.  The availability of candidates for jobs declined while starting salaries for permanent staff increased but at the slowest rate for two years. These results suggest the Scottish economy continues to grow but at a lower rate than this time last year."