THE Scottish economy has continued to grow in the three months to the end of August, according to the latest Lloyds TSB Scotland Business Monitor. The recovery from the slowdown at the beginning of the year has been maintained, with a net positive balance of 27% of businesses reporting an increase in turnover against 15% in the same quarter of 2002. The bank says that although prospects for Scottish exporters to the eurozone remain moderate, an increase of 2.4% in manufactured exports in the first quarter of 2003 does provide evidence of a tentative recovery in the sector. The service sector, which has kept overall unemployment at a low level despite job losses in manufacturing, continues to compensate for the manufacturing recession with over half of the service businesses surveyed reporting an increase in the volume of new business.
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