Category: Recruitment Agency News

The figures showing a drop in unemployment levels have been welcomed by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), which said that they demonstrate the job market has stabilised.

According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 per cent for the three months to January, marking the first quarterly fall since May 2008.

The current number of unemployed people, including professional contractors, fell to 2.45 million, a drop of 33,000 over the quarter.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, welcomed the figures, saying that they are "good news".

He added that they "reinforce what recruiters have been saying for the last few months - that the UK jobs market has stabilised".

The ONS figures follow the REC's March JobsOutlook survey, which showed that 94 per cent of companies expect their workforce to either grow or stay the same in the next year.

However, firms responding to the research said that they remain cautious amid the uncertain economic and political climate.

Posted by Daniel Frost