October witnessed the weakest growth in both permanent staff placements and temporary/contract staff billings in 14 months, according to the latest Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG ‘Report on Jobs’.

The report also reveals average starting salaries awarded to successful candidates placed in permanent jobs rose again in October.

Meanwhile, recruiters indicated a slight rise in the availability of candidates to fill permanent vacancies for the first time in four months in October.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, says: “The ‘Report on Jobs’ for October shows that the UK jobs market is still growing. However, the rate of growth was the weakest for 14 months and vacancies remained on a downward trend, rising at the slowest pace for 12 months. This confirms that the private sector’s ability to compensate for planned job losses in the public sector hangs very much in the balance.”