A fall in the number of City jobs created in August “could be seen as good news,” according to Jonathan Nicholson, managing director of financial services recruiter Astbury Marsden.

According to the firm, around 2,920 City jobs were created in August, a 2% drop from the 2,985 created in July.

Nicholson says: “Hiring managers in the City have had to contend with the diversion of the Olympics as well as the summer holiday season. Given the context, a 2% drop in August could be seen as good news.”

Although the market has improved since heavy job losses in the spring, the Astbury Marsden survey reports that the number of City jobs created in August is down by 28% on the 4,030 created in August 2011.

Astbury Marsden says there is continued demand for regulatory staff as global regulators push forward with plans for higher capital requirements. Change management staff are also in demand as banks continue to review and restructure their investment banking operations.

Nicholson says: “Banks are allocating a large portion of their staffing budgets to ensure they have successfully exited from some banking activities that they and their peers may have invested in. City staff who have specific knowledge of certain products such as interest rate swaps are still in demand.

“We are expecting some improvements in September and October as staff return from summer leave and board members and senior management within banks look to prepare for 2013.”