SCOTTISH Chambers of Commerce has called for interest rates to be held for at least the rest of this year after research found a "significant easing" of growth in many sectors of the economy.

The organisation's quarterly economic indicator, compiled in conjunction with the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University and published today, said all five sectors it monitors saw lower sales revenue in the first three months of 2015 than in the previous quarter.

There was a sharp downturn in construction where the net balance, calculated by deducting the firms reporting a decline from those recording growth, slipped from 45 per cent to -13 per cent.

In tourism the figure went from 24 per cent to -9 per cent and financial and business services halved to 22 per cent.

Manufacturing posted a more robust performance with only a slight decline from 13 per cent to 12 per cent while the retail and wholesale sector saw a dip from eight per cent to three per cent.

That data came after the National Statistics data showed Scotland's economy grew 0.6 per cent between October and December last year.

That came in spite of a flat performance from the services sector although production was up by one per cent and construction by 6.1 per cent. The quarterly performance meant the Scottish economy grew by 2.7 per cent across 2014.

The Chambers research suggests the sluggish performance seen in the early part of this year has not yet hampered investment which stayed in positive territory and generally increased quarter-on-quarter.

But employment growth across all sectors was weaker than in the latter part of 2014 and strayed into a negative balance in both tourism and retail and wholesaling.

While optimism stayed in positive territory for most sectors it was lower than at the same point in 2014 and in the final three months of that year.

The only sector which showed greater optimism was retail and wholesale which recorded a net balance of two per cent, compared to -6 in the first quarter of 2014 and -4 between October and December.

Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said although the economy has returned to pre-recession levels it is on a slower growth path.

She said: "it is not enough to get back to where we were - that wasn't good enough then and it isn't good enough now. Scotland needs to up our game and our targets. Other economies have moved on and we need to catch up and overtake them."

While Ms Cameron believes there are some positive signs she believes the uncertain nature of the recovery means the Bank of England should keep interest rates on hold for at least the rest of this year.

She said: "It is encouraging however that spending on investment increased in every sector. Alongside improved productivity, Scotland can only fuel long term economic growth through increasing capital and labour inputs. If we want to encourage businesses to continue to invest, and to stimulate much needed consumer demand, interest rates must not be raised above current levels, at least for the remainder of this year."

Speaking about the official economic data for 2014 John McLaren, from Fiscal Affairs Scotland, said the improvement in the construction sector last year had been "remarkable" but the "sluggish" performance in services is a worry.

He added: "In particular, the recent stagnant performance of the business services sector is worrying as, since 2010, it has very much lead the way in terms of the recovery and it continues to do so for the UK as a whole."