Declining productivity in Scotland is now impacting wage growth as output declines while employment rises, according to the latest Business Trends Report by accountants and business advisers BDO.
February’s figures reveal that Scottish business output is slowing, with BDO’s Output Index – which reflects companies’ orders for the three months ahead – falling from 101.8 in January to 101.7 in February down from 102.9 in December.
The report found that growth remains reliant on the services sector as manufacturing stagnates, with its sub-index sitting at 95.0 – the level between growth and contraction.
Optimism among manufacturers is also dragging at 90.4, indicating that manufacturing firms expect their order books to decline in the next six months.
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