Boost for private sector as output rises
SCOTLAND’S private sector is “moving up a gear” with output in July rising at the fastest pace in almost three years.
Businesses put the growth down to stronger expansions in the services and manufacturing sectors.
The findings are contained in the Bank of Scotland’s regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for July. The index, which produces a measure of the month-onmonth change in combined manufacturing and services output, rose from 51.1 in June to 53.8 in July – the highest since October 2014.
The manufacturing sector registered strong growth in new orders, while new business in the service sector rose at a comparatively moderate rate, the report found.
Job creation, meanwhile, was at a 31-month high in the latest survey, signalling an expansion in the private sector workforce for the second month running.
Fraser Sime, regional director of Bank of Scotland commercial banking, said: “July’s survey results signalled the Scottish private sector moving up a gear. This good news was fuelled by the service sector returning to meaningful growth, alongside a faster increase in manufacturing output.
“Job creation remained positive for the second month running, with July marking the fastest expansion in employment in over two-and-a-half years.”