Despite 2011 having been defined by uncertainty, the IT jobs market has held firm, according to vacancy and salary data from IT recruiter Computer People.

While permanent hires across all sectors were down 0.23% in October compared with the previous month, there was a 0.5% increase in temporary hires.

Retail bucked the permanent hiring decline, with hires up 6.5%, the highest of any sector, and the only sector with significant increase in permanent hiring. Simultaneously it went against the cross-sector temporary hiring growth, with a 17% decline in hires.