THE Scottish economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the third quarter of last year, slightly adrift of 0.8 per cent expansion in the UK as a whole, official figures have shown.

The data, published yesterday by the Scottish Government, also show that construction sector output surged by 3.2 per cent in the third quarter. This was the construction sector's second consecutive quarter of strong expansion.

The Scottish services sector expanded by 0.6 per cent.

The economy north of the Border had grown significantly faster than that in the UK as a whole in the second quarter of last year, expanding by 1.1 per cent.