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Report on Jobs reveals fastest rate rise in permanent placements for two years
The Report on Jobs published today by the REC and KPMG signals sharper rises in both permanent and temporary staff appointments during the past month.
The latest survey data has highlighted a third consecutive month of growth in both permanent placements and temp billings during October. Furthermore, the latest expansions were the sharpest in two years and 16 months respectively.Higher placements and billings were supported by a rise in job vacancies in October. Demand for permanent staff grew for the first time in 17 months, while demand for temps increased again following September’s slight gain. In both cases, Nursing/Medical/Care workers were the most sought-after type of employee.
Permanent salaries fell only marginally in October and at the slowest pace in the current 13 month period of decline. Temporary staff pay also registered a weaker drop, with the latest fall the smallest in a year.
The availability of staff to fill job vacancies continued to increase in October, in many cases linked to redundancies. However, the rates of improvement in both permanent and temporary staff availability eased to the least marked in 15 months.
Kevin Green, the REC's Chief Executive said:
“These figures show that the UK jobs market is on the road to recovery, with signs of improvement for the third month in a row. The demand for permanent recruitment is returning as employers start to hire people at an accelerating rate.
“Confidence is on the rise with permanent placements increasing at their fastest rate in two years and growth of temporary staff appointments at a sixteen-month high. Based on the latest findings, we anticipate that unemployment will not reach three million in 2010 as some predicted. This again highlights the benefits of the UK’s flexible labour market and a balanced attitude towards employment legislation in terms of keeping people in work.”
Bernard Brown, KPMG Partner and Head of Business Services comments:
“The UK jobs market looks healthier today than at any time in the last two years which is, of course, encouraging news. Sectors like accounting and banking lead the recovery and we may well have reached the tipping point into growth, driven by returning confidence in the private sector. However, we are still to see the impact of the looming public sector recession on the jobs market, which will play out over the first twelve months of a new parliamentary term.”The Report on Jobs provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market drawing from original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies.
Copies of the report are available on annual subscription from Markit. For subscription details, please contact: economics@markit.com.
