The findings, published today, reveal the rate of growth of permanent placements eased only slight in July, while temp billings also rose markedly, with their rate of expansion unchanged from July.

The growth in placements was against a backdrop of a continued decline in availability of candidates to fill both temp and permanent roles.

Across the UK, the growth of permanent placements was strongest in the Midlands and the North of England, while London continued to record only a marginal rate of expansion, which was the slowest of all monitored regions.

The Midlands also saw fastest rate of growth of temp billings, closely followed by the South of England. However, all of the other regions saw steep rates of expansion.

Demand for permanent workers rose across all monitored job categories during August, with steepest increases in IT & computing, followed by accounting/financial. Though construction saw the weakest increase in permanent staff demand.

The top position in the temporary/contract staff demand rankings during August went to blue collar, followed by engineering and nursing/medical/care.

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