Permanent staff placements rose in August at an identical rate to July, according to the latest ‘Report on Jobs’.

The report by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and professional services firm KPMG also shows that temporary staff billings remained broadly steady since July.

Meanwhile, permanent staff salaries increased only marginally and permanent candidate availability improved at the fastest pace since January 2010, while growth of temporary staff availability remained close to July’s five-month high.

REC chief executive Kevin Green says: “The latest ‘Report on Jobs’ highlights the robustness of the UK jobs market. In the face of a slowing economy, falling consumer confidence and high inflation, private sector employers continue to hire staff.

“The numbers are lower than three months ago but placements continued to rise in August, which was the 25th consecutive month of growth. The figures also show that with a month to go before the introduction of new regulations covering agency workers that businesses continue to depend on and use this flexible resource.”