GROWTH of Scotland's private sector economy accelerated to its fastest pace in a year in April, and was ahead of the UK average, a survey has revealed.
The latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) report, published by Bank of Scotland today, also shows a return to growth in the manufacturing sector north of the Border in April, following nine consecutive months of contraction.
However, the survey signals only very modest growth in the manufacturing sector last month.
Growth in Scotland's dominant services sector meanwhile accelerated sharply between March and April.
The PMI report will provide some relief at a time when the economy continues to face significant headwinds from the Coalition Government's austerity measures and difficulties in the eurozone.
Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, expressed hopes on the back of the latest survey that Scotland was "now beginning a more robust recovery".
The headline Bank of Scotland PMI rose from 51.1 in March to 53.1 in April on a seasonally-adjusted basis, climbing further above the level of 50 which is deemed to separate expansion from contraction to signal an acceleration in growth of output.
The April PMI reading for Scotland is ahead of the UK average of 52.4, signalling slightly faster growth north of the Border. Scotland's PMI output index had been slightly below the UK average of 51.4 in March.
The latest PMI report shows the pace of growth in employment in the Scottish private sector accelerated for the third time in four months in April, to reach its fastest pace since last July.
Both the Scottish services and manufacturing sectors recorded a rise in staffing in April.
But the latest survey, compiled by financial information firm Markit, signals that Scottish manufacturers' new export orders were unchanged between March and April.
The PMI Scotland report reading for Scottish manufacturers' new export orders has been at, or close to, the neutral 50 mark since December 2012, signalling a sustained flat trend in new demand for Scottish goods overseas.
The pace of total incoming new business accelerated in both the manufacturing and services sectors north of the Border in April.
New business inflows in Scotland's private sector have increased in every month since last December.
Mr MacRae said: "April's PMI climbed to a 12-month high, signalling growth in the private sector of the Scottish economy at the start of the second quarter of the year.
"Both business activity and employment grew in the manufacturing and services sectors while the volume of new business rose for the fifth month in a row."
Mr MacRae, however, highlighted the lack of growth in exports for Scottish manufacturers.
Referring to the growth of new business in the Scottish private sector economy, he said: "Demand growth was largely UK-based, with the level of new export orders showing a flat trend for the last five months."
He added: "These results suggest the Scottish economy is now beginning a more robust recovery."
Data published last month by the Scottish Government showed the economy north of the Border grew by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of last year, as renewable energy output rose and the service sector grew.
News of the strong quarter-on-quarter rise in Scottish gross domestic product came as a surprise, given a 0.3% fall in UK-wide GDP in the final three months of last year.
The data showed services output in Scotland grew by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2012 in spite of a 4.2% drop in activity in the financial and insurance category. And there was an 8.8% quarter-on-quarter leap in electricity and gas supply in Scotland in the final three months of 2012, much greater than a corresponding 2.2% rise UK-wide.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article