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Scottish economy out of recession after third-quarter growth of 0.6% | Scottish economy out of recession after third-quarter growth of 0.6% |
(35 minutes later) | |
The Scottish economy moved out of recession between July and September, growing by 0.6%, according to official figures. | The Scottish economy moved out of recession between July and September, growing by 0.6%, according to official figures. |
On an annual basis, Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.4%. | On an annual basis, Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 0.4%. |
The Scottish government said output in the services industries grew by 0.3%, but output in construction contracted by 0.4% during 2012's third quarter. | |
During the same period, the whole UK economy grew by 0.9%, helped by spending on the Olympics. | |
That has been followed by a first estimate of GDP for October to December 2012 that indicated the UK economy contracted by 0.3%, threatening a triple dip recession | |
Underlying the headline figures, the strongest growth in July to September was in manufacturing, up by 3%, while electricity and gas production rose 1.9%. | |
A fall in electricity generation had been one reason for poorer figures in the second quarter of the year. | |
Tourism did not perform as badly as feared last summer and, included in the figures for the "distribution, hotels and catering" sector, it grew by 1.1%. | |
Deeper contraction | |
The large business services and finance sector grew by 0.9%, but there were falls in transport, storage and communication - down by 1.5%. | |
These latest figures also show revisions to estimates for previous quarters, indicating that the recession of last winter was shorter than previously thought. | |
There was a small amount of growth in the final quarter of 2011, up by 0.1%, whereas it had been thought to decline by 0.4%. | |
That was followed by a deeper contraction in the first three months of 2012 than initially reported, down by 0.5% compared with the previous estimate of 0.2%. | |
From April to June 2012, output fell by 0.1%, whereas it was previously thought to have had a deeper decline of 0.4%. | |
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "These figures show that the Scottish economy has returned to growth after two quarters of contraction. | |
Budget priorities | |
"However, there is no room for complacency. Recovery remains fragile and the UK government's continuing inaction risks a return to recession for the third time since the financial crisis of 2008. | |
"In contrast, the Scottish government will continue to do all it can to strengthen economic growth and create jobs. Next week, we will conclude our negotiations with parties across parliament to deliver a budget for jobs and growth. | |
"Our budget prioritises construction, skills, employment and a green economic stimulus." | |
However, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie thought the SNP administration could be doing more. | |
"The growth figures for Scotland are welcome, even if they are still behind the rest of the UK," he said. | |
"The message to the Scottish government is that it cannot afford to dither any further on getting capital investment projects up and running. | |
"They fell short by £300m this year with their Futures Trust and have declined to start identifying projects in 2014 to use the extra capital resources provided by the UK government." | |
Scotland's third-quarter growth of 0.6% was better than the UK economy as a whole, which only grew by 0.1% over the year. | |
That return to growth during the third quarter of 2012 also outstripped the performance in the same period the previous year, when the economy grew by 0.4%. |