As unemployment falls, there are signs of confidence rising among professionals and employers, according to Hays.

Today’s figures from the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment has fallen by 20,000 to 2.45m in the three months to August but Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant numbers rose by 5,300 in September to 1.47m for the second month in a row.

A spokesperson at Hays told Recruiter: “The UK job market is showing signs of recovery and confidence from professionals and employers is now rising, although there is still a long way to go until we see a full recovery.

“Sectors such as IT, energy and digital marketing are currently demonstrating resilience. Increasingly, there is also recruitment activity within the City as the majority of investment, corporate and retail banks continue to re-build their businesses.

“In addition, pharmaceutical companies are enjoying a more stable environment due to long development cycles. Areas such as regulatory affairs, health economics and statistical programming, are faring particularly well due to the increase in safety measures and the need to check products going into the prescription markets.

“Other sectors currently recruiting include social housing, legal and health and social care as doctors, qualified social workers and other healthcare professionals all benefit from a more secure job environment due to prevailing shortages.”

Steven Kirkpatrick, managing director at Adecco, says: “While employers are still cautious about hiring permanent staff, our branches across the UK are reporting a steady uptake in the use of temporary, part time and permanent workers.

However, a recent Adecco survey of 100 HR decision-makers found that the forthcoming Agency Worker Regulations could deter employers from using temps, with almost a third of HR professionals claiming that they would recruit fewer temps as a direct result of the legislation.

“Last month, Labour Market Statistics revealed that the number of temporary workers has now exceeded 1.5m. At a time when we need to be doing everything possible to create jobs and kick-start an economic recovery, it’s paramount that we invest time and effort into helping HR professionals understand any legislation impacting the use of a flexible workforce to make sure that they, and our economy, continue to reap the benefits of a flexible workforce.”

Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), says: “While headline unemployment seemed to have settled at a post-recession peak of just under 2.5m in recent months, the deterioration in demand for labour signalled by the ongoing rise in claimant unemployment and the drop in job vacancies suggests that the headline jobless total will soon start to rise again.

“It looks as though the UK will experience a ‘twin peaks’ jobs recession with the second peak higher than the first (closer to 2.9m than 2.5m). Indeed, this twin peaks effect is already emerging in the youth labour market which is showing signs of deterioration, with a renewed increase in the number of jobless 18-24-year-olds.”

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, adds: “These figures are slightly better than expected. Employment is up, unemployment is down, and there has been a further fall in the level of inactivity. However, there are also some negative features. The recent increases in total employment were mainly driven by part-time workers, the number of which has increased to its highest level since records began in 1992. Furthermore, the number of people working part-time because they could not find a full-time job is also at a record high.

“While recent labour market trends are welcome, we have not yet seen the negative impact on jobs that will result from the tough but necessary deficit-cutting measures that will be implemented over the next few years.”