Recruitment in the banking and finance sector has slowed rapidly in the first quarter of the year, according to online advertising firm Broadbean Technology.

The company noted a steady decline in banking roles compared 2006, when there were three times the number of finance jobs advertised.

The news follows the annoucement of redundancies at several City banks, including Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.

The building sector continues to grow, however, with a third more vacancies than in 2006, according to Broadbean.

Dan McGuire, managing director at Broadbean Technology, said: “The data that our system generates is a good indicator of the current economic state, so although recruitment activity in banking and finance is slow, other industries such as education have shown sustained growth and organisations still recognise that finding talent continues to be a difficult phenomenon in the UK.”