Economy

The Scottish labour market continues to demonstrate strength, with employment rates rising and unemployment falling in the May to July 2024 quarter, according to recent figures. Despite a slight lag behind UK averages, Scotland's employment rate reached 74.2%, while the unemployment rate dropped to

Scotland's private sector maintained its growth trajectory in August, according to the latest Regional Growth Tracker data from RBS. The economy was again, however, driven by the service sector, masking a downturn at manufacturers. Service firms also revealed a further improvement in demand trends,

Two major Scottish cities have improved their performance in PwC's Good Growth for Cities Index.

The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT) has highlighted the need for an additional £100 billion annual investment over the next decade to drive long-term growth in the UK economy. The CMIT's Capital Markets Of Tomorrow (CMOT) report, led by Sir Nigel Wilson, quantifies the scal

Scotland's Finance Secretary Shona Robison has unveiled plans for up to £500 million in spending cuts to balance the Scottish government's budget amid "enormous and growing" financial pressure. Ms Robison told parliament that this fiscal year Scotland is projected to face an additional £

Scottish retailers experienced another month of declining sales in August, marking a disappointing summer for the sector.

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) has released a set of reports today providing insights into Scotland’s historic environment sector and a framework to help drive its contribution to Scotland’s economy, communities, and net zero ambitions. The information released includes the Delivery

The Scottish Retail Consortium has called for injecting greater certainty into fiscal plans, spending restraint rather than tax rises, and tax competitiveness as central focus points in the upcoming Scottish Budget. In its Budget submission – entitled Realising The Growth Ambition – sent

Scotland's onshore GDP saw a slight decline of 0.3% in June, following a 0.2% growth in May. The overall picture for Q2 remains positive, with 0.6% growth, compared to Q1's 0.5%. The largest contribution to headline GDP in was electricity & gas supply, which contributed 0.3 percentage points to

In a sign of the strong potential of the UK economy, 468,000 new firms have started up in the first half of 2024, according to the New Startup Index, published by Beauhurst and supported by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the second quarter of 2024, matching expectations and marking a continued recovery from last year's recession. However, monthly GDP growth was flat in June due to poor weather impacting retail sales. Experts warn that challenges remain for sustaining long-term growth,

Scotland’s economic recovery is gaining momentum, suggesting fertile conditions for growth, but pace remains ‘anaemic’, according to the latest EY ITEM Club Scottish Summer forecast. The latest quarterly GDP data indicates that the Scottish economy grew by 0.5% in the first quarter

UK CPI ticked up to 2.2% in July, driven by energy base effects that outweighed a slowdown in services inflation. Analysts anticipate further gradual increases in inflation through the second half of 2024. Peter Arnold, EY UK chief economist, said: "A smaller drag from the energy category added

Business confidence in Scotland rose eight points during July to 51%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Bank of Scotland. Companies in Scotland reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up one point at 45%. When taken alongside their optimism in the eco

Scotland’s onshore GDP grew by 0.3% in May, following growth of 0.2% in April, according to statistics announced by the Chief Statistician. In the three months to May, GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.9% compared to the previous three month period. This indicates an increase relative to the