Companies hit the brakes on recruitment in May
PERMANENT employment in the UK grew for the 22nd month in a row in May, yet the rate of jobs growth slowed to its weakest level since October last year, a report revealed today.
Temporary jobs continued to rise, yet at a remarkably sluggish rate. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 52.4 for temporary roles, from 56.6 in April, and 2011’s peak of 61.5.
Scores above the no-change mark of 50 signal growth.
Some of the drop was attributed to April’s late bank holidays, which delayed recruitment procedures.
Yet fears for the economy are tempering the drive for new recruits, the report said.
“The latest figures are worrying – because they reveal a marked slowdown of the UK jobs market,” said Bernard Brown of KPMG, which compiled the data along with Markit.
“We’ll need to see whether this is a trend or a blip,” Brown added. “Employers across all sectors are becoming more cautious about hiring new staff.”
Growth in overall job vacancies slowed to a five-month low of 57.7 in the index, down from a PMI score of 59.3 in April.