The Scottish economy grew by 0.9% in February and is now 7.4% below pre-pandemic levels. The hospitality industry remains the hardest hit sector of the economy however, with the easing of lockdown restrictions late last month, there is some hope for this industry.
Our sixth election podcast looks at some of the key policy issues that have arisen in the campaign this week – with a brief discussion on key points within the manifestos, including learning disabilities, child poverty, and some insights into what to look out for in the coming week. We were also joined by Divergent Influencers, a group of young people with experience in additional support needs.
Some of the parties have committed to infrastructure or capital programmes, which can have very large sums attached to them over multiple years. Often, though, there will also be estimates for the number of jobs “created” or “supported” due to these programmes. But how do the parties come up with these numbers?
The latest real-time indicators reflect that of an economy gearing to open back up. Google searches for hairdressers and pubs are growing across the UK and the number of vacancies across Scotland is continuing to recover from its trough last May.
Despite a challenging year, and a long winter, there is finally some optimism. The latest data shows positive signs of the economy gradually gearing up for (hopefully) an expected recovery in economic activity.
The Institute sets out the key findings from the latest Quarterly Economic Commentary, including the latest analysis of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Scottish economy and will gain insight from Gavin on consumer and corporate spending in the economy.
The latest GDP data for Scotland shows that the Scottish economy continued to contract into December with a decline of 0.3%. The Scottish economy remains 7.2% below pre-pandemic levels; this compares to 6.3% in the UK economy.
The UK has one of the highest levels of regional income inequality across developed countries. The Johnson government proposes to tackle this with a leveling up agenda. But where does Scotland fit into this picture? We show that the answer to this question depends on the type of regions we compare. As a whole, Scotland has income levels close to the UK average but looking closer we find a more nuanced picture.
As the national lockdown remains across Scotland and the UK, and we approach the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Scotland, the story amongst the sectors of the economy continues to emerge.
Scotland, like the rest of the UK, remains under a national lockdown with over half of Scottish businesses with furloughed staff and a rise in businesses expecting to make staff redundant in the coming weeks.