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Recently released figures from the Banks of Scotland show that there was further improvement in the Scottish jobs market in August. The Bank of Scotland Labour Market Barometer, a composite indicator designed to provide a snapshot of labour market conditions – registered 53.9 in August, down from 55.0 in July. The latest figure signalled a solid, albeit weaker, improvement in Scotland’s job market. Despite the Barometer posting at a five-month low, it remained higher than the equivalent index for the UK overall. IT and Computing led the expansion but growth in the Blue Collar jobs was the weakest. All four Scottish regions registered employment growth in August. Edinburgh posted the strongest expansion in pe
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December’s extreme weather blew cold air all over Scotland’s economic recovery according to the latest PMI report from the Bank of Scotland. The headline Bank of Scotland PMI – a seasonally adjusted index monitoring activity across Scotland’s manufacturing and service industries – signalled a contraction of Scotland’s private sector economy in the final month of 2010, falling almost ten points to 39.6 from 49.5 in November. Quarterly averaged PMI data showed that output performance in Q4 was the weakest since Q1 2009. The severe weather dampened domestic demand in both manufacturing and especially services. Foreign demand, in comparison, remained solid as manufacturers reported continued growth of ne
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Like many other Bank of Scotland (BoS) business account holders, your correspondent received a letter from the bank yesterday stating that, from October, BoS would no longer pay interest on my credit balance. The Herald has a lengthy piece on their move here. In the article by the paper’s business editor Ian McConnell, a BoS spokesperson justifies the measure by saying that their small business customers don’t have to pay a monthly maintenance charge on their accounts. That is not altogether true. Under the terms of my BoS Direct Business Cheque Account, I have to pay £15 a month any time that my balance falls below £5000 in credit. That is not an overdraft fee, it is not a lending fee
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