Recruiters reported increased numbers of permanent and temporary placements in July, according to the latest Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG ‘Report on Jobs’.

The report reveals the most sought-after workers were those in the engineering & construction and IT sectors, while the weakest demand trends were signalled for employees in the hospitality and healthcare categories. 

Growth of both permanent salaries and temp hourly rates rose in July, but remained below their respective averages since the start of the survey in October 1997. 

REC chief executive Kevin Green says: “We have now had two years of continuous growth and employers are still continuing to hire staff, albeit not in the numbers needed to radically reduce unemployment.

“Employment is just 1% off its pre-recession peak but the economy is still struggling at 4% down in comparison with 2007/08 figures. The UK’s flexible labour market is a key reason why employment is continuing to grow. Employers are using large numbers of temporary workers which, with the Agency Workers Regulations less than two months away from implementation, shows that businesses continue to see the value of using a flexible workforce.”