According to the Report on Jobs published by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)and KPMG, permanent staff placement increased for the sixth month running during January, although weaker thean December’s peak.

Temporary/contract billings continued to rise at a marked pace.

Kevin Green, REC Chief Executive, commented: “The growth in people getting permanent jobs eased in January but still remained positive over all.  The number of vacancies reported by recruitment businesses also accelerated at the sharpest rate since July 2007, suggesting that we are now on the long road to recovery. The labour market is out of intensive care but it is still in a fragile state.”

Bernard Brown, Partner and Head of Business Services at KPMG, said: “ As confidence has returned to the private sector the starting gun for a public sector recession has only just been fired and its impact on the jobs market will be felt over the next 12 to 18 months.”