August sees marginal declines as online demand holds broadly steady

Monster's UK and European employment indices both registered a single-point drop in August, with UK online job availability remaining largely unchanged for a fifth successive month

The UK index was down by one point to 109.  This means hiring levels in the UK have effectively declined by more than a third (35%) year on year.  However, job availability does appear to have stabilised from the dramatic decline seen last year.

But as Monster Worldwide head of research Hugo Sellert observed, "Although employer demand has remained largely stable since the beginning of the year, businesses have not yet resumed hiring.  The level of vacancies across the UK is still insufficient to reverse increasing job losses.  The rising number of unemployed means that businesses have a larger pool of available talent to choose from.  The increase in ease of hiring is in turn contributing to the reduction in advertising of live jobs."

Few UK industry sectors registered overall increases in job availability during August.  Marketing, PR and media reported the largest uptick, up six points largely thanks to increased hiring in London and the South East.  Recording more modest gains were admin & organisation and banking, finance & insurance (both up three) and IT (up two).

Similarly, just a couple of UK regions saw an increase in online hiring (East Anglia - reversing two months of decline - and the South West, both up two points), while the South East held steady.  The South East is also the region to have recorded the most moderate year-on-year decline (25%).

Looking at the broader European picture, the index's headline figure of a one-point decline to exactly 100 masks differing performances from the seven countries tracked.  France (-10), Sweden (-9) and Italy (-7) all recorded significant declines, while the Netherlands (-3) and Belgium (-2) joined the UK in experiencing more modest downturns.  But Germany was in positive territory for the first time since February, albeit with just a single-point rise.  August also saw the European index record a year-on-year market decline of 37% - an improvement on the July figure of 40%.

European demand for workers in professional services sectors such as accounting, consulting, engineering and IT continued to ease, while offerings in automotive and construction edged higher for the third consecutive month.

Describing European market conditions as "challenging", Hugo noted that "The imbalance between supply and demand is widening, with a higher number of unemployed people competing for fewer open positions.  That being said, the pace of slowdown has moderated over the summer, and the recent improvement in economic sentiment is particularly encouraging, as restored confidence will be a prerequisite for any jobs recovery."