Businesses in Scotland are struggling to find suitable staff to fill job vacancies, according to the third-quarter survey from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC).

The study found that 70% of employers in the tourism sector have problems recruiting workers, while 31% of construction firms and 38% of retail and manufacturing companies were having similar problems.

SCC director Liz Cameron says: "Skills shortages and recruitment difficulties continue to be a significant factor in tourism, construction and manufacturing, and here we are looking for action by government to deliver real improvements in skills provision.

"If this is left unchallenged, and solutions not found, it will impact on our rate of economic growth, some examples being specifically in technical ability in the hard sciences, engineering, construction, hospitality - and modern languages are in short supply.”

The survey found pay increases in the third quarter varied between industries, ranging from 3.92% in retail to 5.07% in wholesale.