Private sector jobs ‘picking up’

The number of temporary and permanent job placements rose in November, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG’s latest Report on Jobs.

The number of temporary and permanent job placements rose in November, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG’s latest Report on Jobs.

They say recruitment grew at its fastest rate for three months in November, but they warned that the rise in labour demand had exposed skills shortages in fields such as engineering and IT which they said the Government’s curbs on immigration could worsen in the short term.

However, despite the rise in jobs and increased confidence in the private sector, they said the overall outlook remained "fragile".

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, said: “The data suggests that a turning point for the UK jobs market may have been reached as employers across the board are recruiting more people. Confidence among employers is clearly growing as many firms now look to growth in 2011. It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue – but if it does, it would suggest that some of the large scale unemployment worries may not materialise."

However, the picture in the public sector remains grim. The GMB announced that 66,000 jobs have been lost in local authorities so far as a result of government spending cuts.

It adds that a further 4,241 jobs are under threat at 10 councils. Worst affected is thought to be Suffolk County Council, where 1,500 jobs are expected to go.

Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary for public services, said: "Council workers up and down the country are being asked to pay the price for the bankers’ recession and for the bank bailouts that cost taxpayers £850 billion.”

The Local Government Group, part of the Local Government Association, says that the scale of job losses is likely to be 40 per cent higher than the 140,000 it originally forecast for the coming year following the Comprehensive Spending Review.

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