UK Hiring Falls At Fastest Pace In Over Three Years, Wage Growth Slows  

• British employers reduced the number of new permanent staff they hired through recruitment agencies by the most since mid-2020 last month due to concerns about the economic outlook, adding to signs that the market is becoming tougher for job seekers.
• A gauge of permanent staff hiring by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Accountants KPMG fell to 42.4, the lowest since the 34.3 reading in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The survey's measure of temporary staff hiring, which often rises when employers are cautious about the outlook, in July showed the weakest growth in nine months - partly because more workers were looking for the security of permanent roles. Neil Carberry, chief executive of REC, said the jobs market remained "fairly robust" despite the slowdown in permanent placements."To some extend this is normalisation as the post-pandemic boom abates, but it is also driven by uncertainty," he said.
• While starting pay for new permanent staff rose sharply by pre-pandemic standards, the rate of wage growth was the lowest since April 2021, REC said. Claire Warnes, partner of skills and productivity at KPMG UK, said competition for skilled workers and cost of living pressures were keeping starting salaries high.

(Source: Reuters)