Umbrella company contractors may be interested to learn that the September Job Index from Reed showed falling job demand in a range of sectors. The index fell back one index point compared to the previous month, although demand is still up 16% year-on-year.
The Reed Banking Index dropped down to its lowest ever reading of 75 and the Public Sector Job Index sits at a lowly 57. However, sectors such as engineering and manufacturing registered increased demand, as did customer services and media related industries.
Martin Warnes, reed.co.uk’s managing director, said the UK economy appears to be treading water. There is less demand for staff in key financial sector areas, such as banking and insurance. But the economy could eventually be re-balancing as we are seeing continued demand for people in engineering and manufacturing.
New recruitment in the private sector are still up by more than 20% year-on-year, and stable salaries have meant that employers can invest in new talent, he concluded.
The latest Financial Services Survey from the CBI and PwC shows that while 33% of firms saw increasing business volumes last quarter, 24% saw decreases.
Despite growth slowing down, 34% of financial services businesses reported that their net profits rose in Q3 and just 18% said they feel. This gives an index reading of +16, up three points from June. However, firms expect slower growth in the final quarter of 2011.
The CBI’s chief economic adviser, Ian McCafferty, said the financial services sector is still recovering but at a slower rate than earlier this year. There has been a darkening of the mood caused by turbulent conditions on the global financial markets. Business volumes are expected to slow down further and employment prospects could suffer further as a lot of firms may be reducing their headcount in Q4.
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