The Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) seasonally adjusted index of permanent staff placements fell to 53.2 in December from 56.0 in November.

That was the highest since April 2011. Readings above 50 indicate growth compared to a month earlier.

Worth pointing out, the slowdown in placements occurred despite the number of job vacancies posting the strongest rise in 20 months in December.

As well, the availability of permanent staff declined.

Also of interest, the salaries awarded to people placed in permanent jobs rose at the fastest pace in 15 months, according to the poll by REC and business consultants KPMG.

Somewhat curiously, data for the English regions showed that growth of permanent placements remained strongest in the North during December. The Midlands also saw a marked rise, while growth in the South was solid. In contrast, London registered a sharp drop in placements.

Demand was also higher in the public sector, with solid increases in vacancies signalled for both permanent and temporary staff.

Growth of demand was signalled for all eight categories of permanent staff monitored by the survey in December. The strongest increase was again recorded for Engineering/Construction workers.

Commenting on the data, Recruitment and Employment Confederation Chief Executive Kevin Green said: "We've now had three months of uninterrupted growth in people finding permanent jobs through recruitment agencies and five consecutive months of growth in temporary job placements. It's another milestone for the UK labour market, which hasn't seen a full quarter of simultaneous increases in both temp and permanent job placements since mid-2011. It's also further confirmation of the continued strength of our flexible labour market in keeping people in employment."

AB

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