London jobs market soars

Bank of Scotland’s latest London Labour Market Report shows the capital improving to 59.4 on the bank’s monthly barometer, which is based upon demand, employment, availability and pay.

The reading is up from 58.6 in February and well above the national average of 55.8.

Staff appointments rose throughout the month, with the IT & Computing industry leading all others with the strongest demand for permanent employees. All sectors, however, showed healthy demand for both permanent and temporary workers.

Overall, permanent staff placements grew above the UK average in March; however they rose at a pace slightly slower than the month prior.

Analysts blamed the slip on a fall in the availability of qualified staff, which added to upward pressure on wages and salaries.

The bank reports that permanent staff salaries increased at their strongest rate in 11 months as a result, which it says were driven by competition between employers for high-calibre candidates.

“London’s job market continued to perform well in March with demand increasing for both temporary and permanent staff across industries,” said Tim Crawford, group economist at Bank of Scotland.

“However, the jobs market is clearly tightening in the capital with the availability of qualified permanent staff falling to its lowest level in nearly two years and salaries rising at their quickest pace in almost a year.”