Jobs market continues to strengthen says study

THE jobs market continued to go from strength to strength with a further increase in the number of people finding new positions last month, topped off by record-breaking salary growth.

According to the latest Report on Jobs: North, compiled by research group Markit for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, July data indicated that growth of permanent placements in the North accelerated, extending the current sequence of expansion to 15 months.

Recruitment consultants in the North reported that temporary/contract staff billings increased solidly last month, continuing a trend observed for the past two years. Furthermore, the rate of growth rose from the prior month and was above the UK-wide average.

There were sharp rises in demand for both permanent and temporary staff. Permanent vacancies rose at the steepest rate since October 2013, while temp demand grew at the quickest pace in six months. In both cases, the rates of growth were greater than their respective UK averages.

Permanent staff availability in the North of England fell in July, marking an 18-month period of contraction, while permanent salaries accelerated to the quickest pace ever recorded by the survey in July, extending the current sequence of wage growth to 29 months.

Kevin Green, REC chief executive, said: “The jobs market continues to go from strength to strength with a further increase in the number of people finding new jobs last month, and both starting salaries and hourly pay rates continuing to grow.

“Almost a third of recruiters report they secured higher salaries for candidates they placed into permanent jobs in July, than for the equivalent roles in June.”