Job opportunities in the City fell 19% in May, according to the latest Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor.

The monitor registered a month-on-month decrease in the number of available jobs in financial services in May, from 6,426 to 5,229. This was also a decline on May 2010 when 5,733 vacancies were registered.

At the same time, the number of professionals open to new roles in financial services increased in May by 39% to 15,150 from 10,910 in April. Compared to the same time last year, where there was 11,730 registered, this was a 29% increase.

Andrew Evans, chief operations officer, Morgan McKinley Financial Services, says: “The current level of hiring activity in May in isolation saw a fairly significant ‘softening’ of job opportunities in financial services in London.

“While there are pockets of the market that are still seeing month-on-month increases in job vacancies, there remains some uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery.  

“What is most striking is the speed at which the City jobs market appears to be affected by fluctuations in market confidence. This is very much underlined by recruitment activity not following the typical pattern for this time of year – it is more usual in Q2 to see a rise in job availability.

“The London Employment Monitor did, however, record a 39% month-on-month increase in the number of professionals noting an interest in City opportunities. Clearly there are two types of people here: those who are actively looking and those who are merely interested and simply keeping an eye on the market. While job security may well be important, professionals still remain open to new opportunities.”