Dip in City posts driven by legal services trouble
THE NUMBER of jobs in financial services and related professions in London dipped slightly in the first half of the year, despite a recent upturn for the economy.
The number of posts in finance and associated sectors fell 0.9 per cent to 669,000, driven by declines in legal services, where the number of positions fell by 14.2 per cent.
Accounting and management consultancy posts were also hit hard, according to TheCityUK, which compiled the figures.
Financial services jobs held up a little better, with only a 0.3 per cent fall in the first six months of 2013, in comparison to a 1.6 per cent drop for professional services. Some parts of the sector held their own: the number of fund managers rose by three per cent.
In the City and Canary Wharf, the number of financial and professional services jobs dropped by less than one per cent.
According to TheCityUK, employment in financial and professional services remained below the pre-recession level in the middle of the year, down 2.7 per cent from the peak in 2007, before the financial crisis.
However, firms remain optimistic: according to the PwC/Confederation of British Industry third quarter financial services survey, positive sentiment is at a 17-year high.
