Signs of economic improvement in Scotland are few, if any, a business survey has suggested.
The latest research by the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) reported a further widespread weakening of activity in the country's economy in the third quarter of this year.
The study said business confidence remained weak and was declining across all main sectors.
The SCC has now called for action from both the UK and Scottish governments, with Chancellor George Osborne being urged to use his forthcoming autumn statement to "deliver a boost to capital investment".
Some 200 firms across Scotland took part in the research, which was conducted along with the Fraser of Allander Institute economic think-tank.
It found only a "limited" percentage of businesses were expecting to see an increase in demand in the last three months of this year. Instead, it stated: "The majority anticipate either no change or a weakening in demand, suggesting few, if any signs of an improvement in the Scottish economy over the short term."
The survey for the second quarter of this year noted the "sense of a slowdown in economic activity".
The latest research found that at the end of the third quarter there were "more signs of a slowdown and a wider sense of an economy stagnating with weak and inadequate performance". The report went on to warn that "the current age of austerity seems likely to continue".
The survey described the "continuing weakness in the Scottish economy" as being "more widespread" in the third quarter of this year than it was in the first six months of 2012. Only 10% of manufacturing firms surveyed, 11% of retail companies, 12% of tourism respondents and 14% of construction companies reported being more confident now than they had been in the second quarter of this year.
Meanwhile, 32% of manufacturing firms questioned, 39% of tourism respondents, 41% of those in construction and 53% of retail said they were less confident about the general business situation.
