UK jobs market cools again, pay growth weakest since April 2021

Pay pressures in Britain’s labour market cooled further in June, according to a survey of recruiters published on Monday that could help ease some of the Bank of England’s (BoE) concerns about inflation pressure.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and accountants KPMG said increases in starting salaries for permanent and temporary staff were the weakest since April 2021.

The BoE, which has raised interest rates 13 times since late 2021 in an attempt to tame the highest inflation rate among the world’s big rich economies, has said it expects pay growth to weaken, easing price pressures.

The monthly REC survey showed the availability of staff rose for the fourth month in a row to 57.6 from 55.6 in May, the steepest month-on-month increase since November 2009 excluding the coronavirus pandemic period.

“This is likely driven by people reacting to high inflation by stepping up their job search, and by some firms reshaping their businesses in a period of low growth,” Neil Carberry, REC’s chief executive, said.

Claire Warnes, partner for skills and productivity at KPMG UK, said the sharp upturn in people looking for work reflected a drop in recruitment and increasing redundancies.

REC said uncertainty over the economic outlook weighed on hiring decisions in June.

Its monthly permanent placements index came in at 46.4 last month, picking up from the near two-and-half-year low of 43.8 in May but still below the 50.0 no change level.

Temporary hiring, which often rises when firms are uncertain about the economic outlook, increased moderately.

Vacancies ticked up further in June although the pace of growth was the weakest since records started in March 2021.