April sees modest increase in UK online recruitment activity

The latest Monster Employment Index UK charts a two-percent increase to 112 for April, although in year-on-year terms it's still down by more than a third (37%).  But the rise - the second in three months - does suggest that the level of decline may finally be beginning to moderate.

The latest increase was largely driven by further opportunities in the healthcare & social work, education, training & library, management & consulting and legal sectors.  By way of contrast, demand fell away sharply in the construction & extraction and HR sectors.

In regional terms, demand bounced back strongly in Scotland (up fourteen points), Northern Ireland (up thirteen) and the South West (up nine).  Elsewhere, activity was either flat (as in Wales) or recorded a very slight decline.

Monster Worldwide's head of economic research Hugo Sellert notes that, while demand for workers remains significantly slower than last year, signs of stabilisation are beginning to appear across various sectors of the economy.

In Europe there was little overall change, with the index down by just a single point to 111.  France (up six points - a third consecutive monthly rise) joined the UK in recording a positive trend, but Belgium, Italy and Germany all posted modest declines, while demand fell more sharply in the Netherlands and Sweden.

Although recruitment activity in the healthcare & social work sector increased (by 5%) for the fourth month running, opportunities in production, manufacturing, maintenance & repair were hit particularly hard, declining by seventeen points to take the sector 30% down year-on-year.  HR offerings dipped by three points - or 4% - to reach their lowest level since the index's inception.

"EU activity continued to slow in April," says Hugo, "but the pace of deterioration seems to be stabilising."  He adds that, while current levels of demand may not be enough to prevent further rises in unemployment, "there are signs that businesses across Europe are becoming slightly more confident in the economy."