Contact: Ali Agmen-Smith
Deloitte
Public Relations
+ 44 (0) 207 303 0514

The Report on Jobs, published today by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Deloitte, provides the most comprehensive guide to the UK labour market, drawing on original survey data provided by recruitment consultancies and employers, as well as data on national newspaper recruitment advertising.

The latest REC/Deloitte Report on Jobs shows that employment continued to rise in June, although the demand for staff from employers grew at a reduced pace. Difficulties filling vacant positions were therefore less widespread than in previous months, which in turn led to an easing of pay inflation.

Commenting on the latest report, Ashley Unwin, consulting partner at Deloitte said:
"This month's Report on Jobs shows signs of cooling demand for staff in June. Employers will be relieved to see that recent difficulties with candidate availability are less widespread and salary growth is easing. However, as proven by previous host cities, the Olympics generate opportunities across the entire job market and we would expect to see a major strengthening of private sector employment, particularly in the hotel & catering industry, if London wins the Olympic bid today.”

Also commenting on the latest report, Marcia Roberts, Deputy Chief Executive of the REC said:
"Although recent months have started to indicate a levelling out of the demand for staff, the job market is still very positive and the UK continues to have an enviably low unemployment rate. With the UK taking over the presidency of the EU, this month's report provides a timely reminder that the UK has one of the best performing labour markets in Europe. As a result, it is crucial for the UK Government to continue fighting against potentially damaging legislation such as the current draft of the Agency Workers Directive and to highlight the need for the EU to focus on job creation and competitiveness.”

• Permanent appointments rise at slower rate...
  The latest recruitment industry survey showed that the number of people placed in permanent jobs rose in June as UK employers continued to expand capacity, but the rise was the weakest seen for three months and firmly below that seen during much of last year.
  
  Meanwhile, growth of billings received by agencies from temp/contract staff employment picked up slightly, but the rate of increase stayed little changed on the 21-month low seen back in April.
  
  
• ...holding employment growth at modest pace
  The data on staff appointments from the recruitment industry survey paint a similar picture to the CIPS/NTC Research Employment Index, which is based on the Purchasing Managers' Index surveys. This index signalled further growth of private sector staffing levels in June, although the rate of growth remained only modest and below that seen throughout last year. Weak employment growth primarily reflected a further decline in the manufacturing workforce.
  
  
• Signs of cooling demand for staff appear...
  The weaker growth of staff appointments reflected a cooling in the rate of increase of demand for staff, which recruitment agencies reported to have risen at the slowest pace for twenty months in June.
  
  Two other indicators point to a peaking in growth of demand for staff. First, national press recruitment advertising in the UK was down 8.1% on a year earlier in May – the sharpest rate of decline for over two years. Second, the government's measure of job vacancies rose by just 4.1% in May – a 15-month low.
  
  
• Pay pressures down in June
  Despite slowing, overall demand for staff nevertheless continued to rise in June, and the current tightness of the job market led to further growth of wages and salaries as skill shortages persisted. However, the rise in permanent salaries recorded in June was the weakest for 16 months. At the same time, temp pay rates rose at the slowest pace for 21 months. This suggests that the official rate of growth of employee earnings will have fallen from the 4.6% seen in April (the latest month for which official data are available).
  
  
• Reporting of skill shortages less widespread
  The easing in upward pay pressures was linked to fewer difficulties finding staff to fill vacancies. The overall availability of candidates to fill positions at employers deteriorated at the slowest pace in 17 months in June, suggested that skill shortages were less widespread than a month ago.

For further information please contact:

Deloitte: Ali Agmen-Smith Media & PR 020 7303 0514 aagmensmith@deloitte.co.uk

REC: Susanna Loughnane REC press office 01753 672 755

NTC Research (technical/data queries): Chris Williamson 01392 202 361 Jack Kennedy 01491 418687

Notes to editors:

The Report on Jobs is a monthly publication produced by NTC Research on behalf of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Deloitte. The report features original survey data which provide the most up-to-date and comprehensive monthly picture of recruitment, employment and employee earnings trends available.

The Report features original research data from NTC Research, collected via questionnaire from a panel of 400 UK recruitment and employment consultancies. In 2000, some 1,326,000 people were employed in either temporary or contract work through consultancies and over 450,000 people were placed in permanent positions through consultancies. Data for the monthly survey were first collected in October 1997 and are collected at the end of each month, with respondents asked to specify the direction of change in a number of survey variables.

As the leading UK human resources (HR) consultancy, Deloitte recognises the importance of comprehensive and reliable HR and job data. The NTC Report on Jobs provides such authoritative and timely information. This enables HR professionals to better understand, interpret and respond to the movements in the job market to deliver strategic value and bottom line impact as an informed business partner. Deloitte therefore believes Report on Jobs is an essential tool for the management kit-bag to help organisations win the war for talent and meet business objectives in an increasingly competitive and people critical environment.

With the exception of the Press Recruitment Advertising Index, all Index numbers are calculated from the percentages of respondents reporting an improvement, no change or decline. These indices vary between 0 and 100 with reading of exactly 50.0 signalling no change on the previous month. Readings above 50 signal an increase or improvement; readings below 50 signal a decline or deterioration. Reasons given by survey respondents for any changes are analysed to provide insight into the causes of movements in the indices and are also used to adjust for expected seasonal variations.

Recruitment Advertising in National Newspapers data is derived from original survey data collected from media owners by NTC on behalf of the UK Advertising Association together with information from Nielsen Media Research. The data from both NTC and Nielsen Media Research refer only to advertisements in UK national newspapers and therefore tend to reflect trends in the managerial, professional white collar and executive job markets.

Recruitment and Employment Confederation
36-38 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7RG.
Tel: 020 7462 3260
Fax: 020 7255 2878

The REC is the association for the £26 billion private recruitment and staffing industry in the UK, with over 6,500 recruitment agencies and 8,000 recruitment consultants in membership. There are 1.5 million temporary workers registered with UK agencies, and up to 1 million temps are deployed in industry, commerce and the public services every day.

Deloitte
180 Strand, London WC2R 1BL.
Tel: 020 7936 3000
Fax: 020 7583 8517

In this report references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte & Touche LLP. Deloitte & Touche LLP's Human Capital practice is the largest fully integrated HR consultancy in the UK with more than 700 consultants covering the complete spectrum of strategic human resources. Consulting services include: HR transformation, shared services and outsourcing; international and domestic tax, actuarial and pensions; executive and employee compensation and benefits. Globally, Deloitte &Touche LLP is one of the world's largest HR consulting firms with over 6000 staff in 140 locations.

NTC Research
Farm Road, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, RG9 1EJ.
Tel: 01491 418700
Fax: 01491 571188

NTC Research is one of the world's largest specialist providers of business research information, operating business surveys on behalf of blue chip clients. Current research includes continuous surveys providing original data on economic conditions in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Greece, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Japan and China. NTC surveys are widely used by governments, businesses and financial markets.