Expansion in private-sector workforce is a hopeful sign
Business correspondent
HOPES are high that Scotland is now past the worst of private-sector job losses as an influential survey today reveals that Scots firms last month expanded their workforces for the first time since March 2008.
Scotland was the only part of the UK to see employment levels rise in October, according to the latest Scottish Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).
Improving workloads were behind the drive to take on new staff, the research from respected forecasting group Markit reveals.
Private-sector output expanded for the fourth consecutive month in October, boosting expectations that Scotland will shortly be able to declare an end to its recession.
The continued upward trend has been put down to an influx of new orders. New business increased at its fastest rate since December 2007, the survey found, although economists warn that private-sector growth is still being driven by heavy discounting.
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