Permanent placements have risen at their fastest rate for 10 months in February, according to the latest Report on Jobsfrom the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG.

The report also shows the strongest increase in temp billings since May 2007.

However, inflation of wages and salaries remained subdued and there was an improvement in candidate availability.

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG, says: “The encouraging trend which started in January continued last month with permanent placements rising at their fastest rate in 10 months and temp billings showing their strongest increase since May 2007.

“Employers in the IT & computing and engineering & construction sectors are again those most actively recruiting. This might be an indication that a private sector-led recovery is indeed under way.

“What the government needs to do now is to support growth. It needs to encourage private sector investment into the provision of public services to mitigate the cuts and job losses we are expecting across the public sector. It also should continue to help and promote British exports to enable UK manufacturers to expand globally.”