The demand for staff is at a four-year low, but there is no sign of a deterioration of the jobs market, according a new survey.

The latest figures from the Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and professional services firm KMPG, found that only 37% of the 735 employers expected to increase staff levels in the spring quarter (March-May 2008).

The spring 2008 figure is lower than in spring 2007 (39%), spring 2006 (41%), spring 2005 (49%) and spring 2004 (53%).           

Dr John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD, said: “Conditions in the UK labour market are clearly softer than six months ago and softer than at this time of year for several years. But net hiring (recruitment minus redundancies) remains strongly positive, suggesting that while the labour market is currently experiencing a period of relative slowdown, which should in due course show up in official statistics, the market is far from approaching a state of meltdown.”