Precision Blog - Recruitment and Employment News

The latest KPMG and REC Report on Jobs has shown the strongest growth in permanent placements in 12 years and the sharpest rise in temporary staff billing since January 2008.

These figures were further boosted by a rise in candidate availability.

Higher permanent placements were also given a shot in the arm with a further expansion of permanent staff vacancies.

Permanent staff salaries rose again in March. The rate of inflation was solid, despite easing slightly from February’s twenty-month high. Temp pay increased at a pace that, although modest, was the sharpest since June 2008

REC chief executive Kevin Green said: “Permanent appointments increasing at the fastest pace for over 12 years is the clearest sign yet of a revival in the UK jobs market. A rise in both temporary and contract work at the sharpest rate for nearly three years shows how they continue to provide vital flexibility for UK businesses as well as a valuable route back into work for job-seekers.

“However, the overall outlook is tempered by public expenditure cuts which are already impacting on recruitment in this sector. Deep-rooted reforms and innovative approaches to public sector resourcing will be needed in order to maintain frontline services. While high-end sectors such as IT and engineering continue to show strong growth, demand is also increasing for secretarial and back-office support roles.”

Source: The Recruitment Consultant Magazine 7th APRIL 2010

LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England looks set to keep its powder dry on Thursday as it pauses to assess the impact of the massive stimulus it has already injected into the economy.

It is now a year since the central bank slashed interest rates to a record low 0.5 percent and began buying bonds in an unprecedented attempt to kickstart growth.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Judging by the recent flurry of share buyback announcements, Corporate America is increasingly confident the worst of the economic slump has passed.

After two years of belt tightening, stock buybacks are running at their highest level in two years as companies start to look for ways to deploy the record levels of cash on their balance sheets.

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The number of hours worked by private sector temporary workers increased by 35% in January, according to procurer of temporary agency labour de Poel.

And de Poel says this overall increase in temporary labour usage is in spite of bad weather caused by heavy snowfall earlier this year.

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The UK inflation rate rose to 3.5% in January – the fastest annual pace for 14 months – from 2.9% the month before, official figures have shown.

Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation was driven up by VAT returning to 17.5% and higher petrol prices.

Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation which includes housing costs, rose to 3.7% in January, up from 2.4%.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King has had to write a letter of explanation to the chancellor.

A letter from the bank’s governor is required if inflation is more than one percentage point above or below the government’s 2% target. Click to read

The number of people unemployed in the UK has fallen slightly, figures show.

Total unemployment stood at 2.46 million for the three months to December, down 3,000 on the figure for the previous three months.

The rate of unemployment was unchanged at 7.8%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 23,500 to 1.64 million in January, the largest increase since July last year.

Analysts had expected the number of claimants to fall by about 10,000.

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The latest REC/KPMG report on jobs has shown a growth in perms, a rise in temp billings and a surge in demand for staff.

This shows a continued improvement in job market conditions from the end of 2009 into this year.

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The UK economy finally returned to growth in the fourth quarter of last year after the deepest recession since records began more than half a century ago, but at a far weaker rate than expected.

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A group on LinkedIn, Corporate Recruiters, has posed an interesting question on its discussion board: What is the most outdated interview question?

Here is a selection of the group’s ideas but we would love to get your suggestions as well.

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Leicester Tigers ran in seven tries as they secured a 47-8 bonus point victory over Heineken Cup Pool 3 rivals Viadana at Welford Road on Saturday

Tigers wrapped up the bonus point before half-time thanks to tries from Dan Hipkiss, Ben Woods, Toby Flood and Scott Hamilton (2).

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