City hiring bucks trend with strong growth in vacancies
Employers in financial services bucked the trend set by other professional sectors in March with a strong increase in the number of roles available, according to data to be published today.
Vacancies for permanent City jobs rose by 11 per cent year-on-year last month, analysis of figures from recruiters by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) reveals.
The number of vacancies across professional sectors nationwide fell by two per cent during the same period, with particular weakness in the engineering and marketing sectors.
Read more: London salaries and job vacancies are on the up
The figures come against a backdrop of a historically tight labour market, with unemployment hitting its lowest in four decades in February, at 4.2 per cent.
However, the apparently tight market in the financial services labour market has not been reflected in an increase in offered salaries, in spite of increasing competition for employers looking to snap up talent.
The three-month average of financial services salaries fell by 1.8 per cent year-on-year, according to the survey.
Read more: Philip Hammond says Brexit transition deal has ended fears of banker exodus
John Nurthen, SIA executive director of global research, said the figures give some hope that the government is correct in saying "the UKs financial services industry will emerge largely unscathed from Brexit".
Chancellor Philip Hammond last week claimed the Brexit transition deal, giving firms unchanged trading status until the end of 2020, has averted the majority of job losses for the City. The prospect of a sudden "cliff edge", in which UK-EU trade reverted to the less favourable terms of the World Trade Organization without a deal, had threatened an exodus from the City.
However, Nurthen warned that "continuing uncertainty about passporting arrangements" still looms over the finance sector.
Read more: City job vacancies grow as employers try to tempt wary workers to new jobs
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