March ‘sees strong employment growth’

Things may be showing signs of looking up as the UK emerges from recession, with March demonstrating the strongest growth of permanent placements since October 2007.

According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) and KPMG’s report on jobs, temporary and contract staff billings also increased at their steepest rate in 34 months.

Meanwhile, the growth of vacancies showed signs of easing, while there continued to be rises in candidate availability and wages and salaries also increased.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said: “These figures show that private sector confidence is returning and that the UK is exiting recession at a pace.”

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He described the UK jobs market as going from “strength to strength” but warned that a lot of current hiring activity is occurring within the public sector.

As a result, when the public sector recession hits the jobs market, the recent growth may come to an end, Mr Brown claimed.

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce has revealed that while the UK has avoided a double-dip recession, the economy remains weak.

Posted by Cameron Thomson