They are being notified across the commercial finance sector with a number of new entrants helping to re-energise the market.

A further positive signal is the number of employed candidates who are now looking for a career move, reflecting a measured confidence returning.

Key points from January survey:

• Growth of permanent placements eased from December’s peak but remained strong
• Temporary/contract staff billings continued to rise at marked pace
• Demand for staff grew at strongest rate since July 2007
• Candidate availability increased at slower pace
• Pay pressures remained subdued

Commenting on the latest survey results, Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG said:

“The UK jobs market is continuing its journey back to health. Placements of permanent and temporary jobs have been rising again in January although at a slower pace than a month before, a reminder that the road to recovery will be bumpy. As confidence has returned to the private sector the starting gun for a public sector recession has only just been fired and its impact on the jobs market will be felt over the next 12 to 18 months.”

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The recruitment industry survey tracks both the average salaries awarded to people placed in permanent jobs each month, as well as average hourly rates of pay for temp/contract staff.

Permanent salaries

Starting salaries awarded to successful candidates placed in permanent jobs increased for the second month running in December. Furthermore, the latest rise was the fastest since June 2008. Where higher salaries were reported (by 12% of panellists), this was usually attributed to stronger demand for staff.

Temp/contract pay rates

Hourly rates of pay for temporary/contract staff decreased for a fifteenth successive month in December. However, the rate of decline eased to only a marginal pace that was the weakest in that sequence.

Copies of the report are available on annual subscription from Markit. For subscription details please contact: economics@markit.com Tel: +44 1491 461000

Re-printed with kind permission of Markit