The recruitment industry has given its own response to the latest labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics, which were released yesterday.

The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) tentatively welcomed the drop in the number of young people out of work, which fell 79,000 to 895,000, the lowest rate since April 2009.

REC chief executive Kevin Green said: “The reduction in the number of unemployed people is to be welcomed especially among the young. However, this could be the lull before the storm as in the next three months tens of thousands will be leaving school, college or university, having completed their GCSEs, A-levels and degrees.”

TAEN — The Age and Employment Network believes the jobs outlook for older people continues to be unsteady and mixed. Figures show the number of people aged 50-64 in work rose by 36,000 between February and April 2011.

However, the number of over 50s claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance rose by 2,900 and the proportion of those out of work for 12 months or more remains the highest among all age groups.

Chris Ball, CEO of TAEN, said: “While overall employment for the 50 to 64 age group is up, we also see an increase in the numbers claiming unemployment benefits and a stubbornly high rate of long-term unemployment for this age group.

“This only adds to our concerns about the readiness of the new Work Programme to assist older jobseekers and long-term unemployed people.”

Regarding employment in the finance centre of the UK, the City of London, Dave Way, managing director of accountancy and finance recruiter Marks Sattin, said: “The boost to employment for people aged between 35 and 49 is certainly visible in the City. Firms are hiring into their middle tiers and accountancy and finance workers are optimistic their salary increase of 8% last year will be bettered in 2011.

“In terms of salaries, the accountancy and finance profession continues to outperform the rest of the economy as employers who had to significantly reduce headcount during the recession are competing for the best people as the recovery gets underway.”

Neil Carberry, CBI director for employment, points out that the private sector seems to be creating jobs: “It is good news that unemployment figures have fallen, with the private sector creating jobs. We hope this will continue in the coming months, but we still have a serious problem with long-term unemployment and inactivity. We need to tackle the structural causes of unemployment to get the UK working.”

And the REC’s Green added: “While the May Report on Jobs marked a slowing in the rate of growth, recruitment professionals continue to report that hiring activity is still strong in many sectors of the jobs market.

“Coupled with that, employer confidence is at a 12-month high as is consumer confidence, so the jobs market outlook in the next few months is looking more positive than expected, considering the UK’s anaemic economic growth.

“The figures also clearly demonstrate that the two-speed jobs market we predicted is now in full swing. We remain confident that the private sector can absorb the fall-out from public sector cuts in the medium term.”