Three lessons from Scotland's December economy

RBS and Natwest Group Chief Economist Seb Burnside talks through the big lessons from December's economic performance, exclusively for The Scotsman.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to this summary of the Regional Growth Tracker data for the Scotsman.

00:07Scottish businesses rounded out 2024 by reporting contracting activity in December,

00:17in contrast to the previous 11-month run of growth.

00:21And the same was true when it came to hiring activity and employment.

00:26Scotland's businesses have been notable in telling us that the labour market was tighter

00:32and there was more hiring activity going on in Scotland for the majority of last year,

00:37but initial data for December indicates that that trend may have reversed.

00:44One bright spot, whilst many other parts of the UK were reporting rising costs and prices,

00:53Scottish firms reported less change in pressures on that side.