Permanent staff appointments in the British private sector declined further in August, though at a slower rate, while temporary staffing increased for the first time in nine months, data from the survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG showed Monday.
Data from the survey showed that there was a further reduction in permanent staff appointments in private sector firms in August, but the rate of decrease was weaker than in the previous month.
Temporary staff billings, meanwhile, increased for the first time in nine months. The number of vacancies available to job-seekers also increased further during the month, though at a weaker rate.
At the same time, the availability of staff continued to rise, but both permanent and temporary/contract staff availability recorded slower growth compared to the previous month.
"With question marks still hanging over the long-term state of the economy, it would be easy to suggest that an upward curve in the jobs market is nothing more than a blip," Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG said.
"But the truth is that, in some parts of the country, we are actually seeing a growth in the number of companies recruiting and where there is a decline it is now virtually insignificant."
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