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Northern job placements rise, but only slightly

Permanent job placements in the North of England rose at their slowest rate for seven months during March, according to the latest jobs report from KPMG.

Statistics for the Northern regions showed a slight increase in permanent staff placements last month, although KPMG said it was only incremental.

Nationally, there was a marginal increase in permanent job placements and temporary post placements also rose slightly, while London experienced a decline and the Midlands saw the fastest increase of all the regions.

Actual demand for permanent staff in the North grew sharply during March, and at a faster rate than national demand, along with temporary worker demand which also increased.

Jonathan Hurst, Northern Chairman of KPMG, commented: “The deceleration in permanent staff placements indicates that the wider economic picture is catching up with the Northern jobs market.

“With temporary placement growth also slowing, there are signs that employers, who were previously comfortable making short-term financial commitments, are now nervous about undertaking people investment.

“However, the growth rate of permanent and temporary staff placements in the North remains above the national average, which demonstrates the resilience of the region’s business community.

“Perhaps, once the measures announced in last month’s Budget start to take effect, we may see a positive impact on business confidence, but there is a long way to go and forecasts for a flat GDP for the rest of the year do not bode well.”

Recruitment consultants pointed to a problem with the supply of candidates for permanent positions in the North, which fell for the second month in a row during March.

Despite this suggestion, KPMG said the rate of decline was only slight, and had eased from February, while across the UK the number of candidates for permanent vacancies decreased slightly for the fourth consecutive month.

KPMG’s jobs report indicated an uplift in pay slips across the North with the fastest uplift in wage inflation last month since December.

Average hourly wages also rose, while 5% of recruitment consultants indicated higher temporary wage rates, although 2% said wages had fallen for temp workers.

Managing director of NL Managed Services and REC regional director in Yorkshire, MArk Hathaway, said:“The fact that across the North of England in March more people secured jobs than in the previous month is obviously good news.

“Last month for the supply of nurse and healthcare support workers was our busiest month for over three years.

“Talking to other recruiters in the region who work in a range of sectors including drivers, clerical, healthcare and finance they have all told me they feel very positive about the local jobs market at the moment.

“Although growth in the wider labour market remains slow I feel the outlook for business here is positive at the moment and I’m looking forward to the next few months.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .