The job market is showing definite signs of recovery, with a new report revealing that seven out of nine sectors look set to hire over the next three months.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey claims that 12% more companies will be hiring rather than firing between October and December.

The sectors which are not planning on hiring are agriculture, which plans to reduce staff levels, and mining.

Unusually for the hotel and catering sector, which normally ramps up its staffing levels to satisfy festive demand, its hiring intentions for this period are at their lowest for 12 years, according to a separate survey from the Confederation of British Industry.

Prospects aren’t rosy for the consumer services sector in general, with more people losing their jobs over the last quarter than at any point since 1998, according to the CBI.

A Manpower spokeswoman said hotel and retail employers “are contributing significantly to the drop in job prospects in the UK”.