Mon, 14 May 2012

The rate of creation of new jobs in Scotland is at its highest rate in five years, with the Scottish economy now having increased the number of jobs available for the sixth month in a row.

This is according to the Bank of Scotland’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April, which registers an employment index reading of 52.5.

A reading above 50 indicates an increase in employment levels across Scotland, and this is also the fifth month in a row where the employment index has increased.

However, when split into manufacturing and services, there was actually a decline in employment levels within manufacturing, albeit marginal, as the index fell from 51.6 to 49.6. This was offset with a 53.5 reading in services, the highest reading of either index in around a year.

At the turn of 2008 and 2009, both the industry-wide and the individual manufacturing and services indices stood close to 40.