Economic Buzz: UK job placements fall; staff availability rises sharply

UK permanent job placements declined at a softer pace and candidate supply increased sharply amid falling demand for staff in September, monthly data from S&P Global showed Friday.

Permanent staff appointments dropped at the weakest pace in a year in September. That said, employers were hesitant to take on new workers due to weaker economic conditions and cost concerns, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs said.

Meanwhile, temp billings dropped at a solid pace that was faster than in August.

Starting pay for permanent workers grew at the slowest pace in the current sequence of rise that began just over four-and-a-half years ago. Temp pay growth also slowed in September.

Data showed that overall vacancies continued to drop but the rate of contraction eased only slightly from August's six-month record.

There was a sharp increase in the availability of workers in September. This was linked to reduced recruitment activity and redundancies. The supply of both permanent and temporary staff increased at softer rates.

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