Job cuts in Scotland hit a six-month high in January as growth remained in "low gear", according to a new report.

The Bank of Scotland's monthly purchase managers index - which measures performance in manufacturing and services by gathering data from about 600 companies - found the rate of job shedding had accelerated to its fastest since July 2015.

The report said: "Job cuts were evident in both the manufacturing and service sectors with some panellists linking the fall to a combination of higher wage costs and the downturn in the oil industry."

Alasdair Gardner, Bank of Scotland regional managing director for Scotland, said: "Growth in Scotland's private sector remained in a low gear during the first month of 2016 as service providers continued to outperform their manufacturing counterparts.

"Challenging market conditions in the oil and gas sector allowed for only a slight rise in incoming new business levels whilst job shedding accelerated to a six-month high.

"Firms reported a further lack of pressure on capacity throughout the private sector yet this was not enough to halt the current upturn in the Scottish economy."

The report found the Scottish private sector remained in "growth territory", with January's figure of 50.3 unchanged from December.

The survey recorded a weak expansion in output for a second successive month, driven by a faster rise in new business volumes. Scotland's service providers were behind much of the growth while goods producers reported a contraction.