As orders decline, companies in Scotland are shrinking their workforces DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS GETTY IMAGESScottish businesses are cutting jobs at the fastest rate in more than three years, according to new research. The latest Royal Bank of Scotland’s purchasing managers’ index suggests that the decline in new orders and activity levels during September was linked with economic and political uncertainty. The PMI is a long-running monthly survey monitoring conditions in the manufacturing and services sectors. The headline business activity index, which combines manufacturing and services, was at exactly 50 last month, compared with 50.3 in August. A marginal expansion in services in September was not enough to offset a sharp fall in manufacturing…

Source: The Times October 13, 2019 23:02 UTC