The Scottish jobs market is continuing to grow at a healthy rate, according to April’s Bank of Scotland Labour Market Report.

The Labour Market Barometer registered a score of 62.5, down slightly from 62.7 in March. However, this is still well above the UK figure off 55.8.

For permanent staff, IT & computing candidates were most in demand, followed by accounts and financial workers, then hotel and catering.

For temporary and contract staff, IT and computing candidates were again the most popular, followed by engineering and construction workers, and accounts and financial.

However April’s data signalled a further fall in permanent staff availability, with 38% of consultancies reporting a drop in candidates.

Tim Crawford, group economist at Bank of Scotland said: “Our latest data shows that the Scottish job market is performing well with job vacancies and appointments both rising strongly in April.

“However, the survey also shows there continues to be a shortage of qualified staff in Scotland and this could put pressure on pay rates in coming months.”