The UK construction sector continued to contract for a second month in row in October, according to the latest CIPS-Markit survey.
The index posted a reading of 46.2 in October, indicating a further fall in UK construction sector activity, and at a faster pace than that in September.
Motor company General Motors has confirmed that it is to shed 10,000 workers across its European car unit Opel, which includes Vauxhall in the UK.
The BBC reports that the announcement comes a day after GM said it was cancelling its deal to sell Opel to Canadian car parts firm Magna.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has written to 60 MPs, who are calling for early implementation of the Agency Workers Directive.
The 60 Labour MPs (listed below) signed an Early Day Motion in parliament calling for the government to “commence the measures before the end of this parliament”.
Despite buoyant retail sales figures, retail recruitment will remain lean and mean, according to Maureen Hinton, lead retail analyst at Verdict Research.
Latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountant KPMG show that British retailers saw their best October for sales since 2002, while like-for-like growth was 3.8%, compared with the same period in 2008.
The Conference Board’s US employment trends index (ETI) edged up for the second consecutive month in October. The index now stands at 89.3, up 0.7% from the revised September figure. However, it remains 13.2% below its level a year ago.
Chart toppers: (l-r) David Morgan and Simon Law are new entrants in the Hot 100
The recession will end in the current quarter of this year, however, recruiters will continue to face tough times for some time to come, recruiters have heard.
UK unemployment fell to 7.8% in the quarter to September, down from 7.9% in the April-June period, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Public sector pay is likely to be frozen due to the state of public finances, according to recruiters.
October’s Office for National Statistics provisional estimates of the public finance figures reveal a current budget deficit of £7.7bn, net borrowing of £11.4bn, while at the end of October 2009 net debt was £829.7bn - 59.2% of gross domestic product.
The UK needs to raise its game if it isn’t to lose out to other countries in attracting skilled nurses and midwives.