British jobs boom spreads as firms go on hiring spree
EVERY region in Great Britain and every sector of the economy is expecting to see another spike in hiring during the second quarter of the year.
Across the UK, 10 per cent of employers plan to expand their workforce between April and June, while only three per cent expect that they will reduce staffing levels. Every sector is now looking to take on more employees for the first time since 2008.
Research released by Manpower today also confirms that financial and business services are growing at a strong pace. A net balance of 12 per cent of employers in the sector expect to hire in the next quarter. The only sector where employment is expected to expand more quickly in the second quarter is agriculture, with the strongest intentions since 2002.
“While the overall outlook has been consistently positive now for a number of quarters, it’s actually been six years since the employers we’ve interviewed have reported positive hiring plans in every single sector,” said Manpower’s Mark Cahill.
He added: “At last we can confidently say that the jobs market is starting to fire on all cylinders”.
Regionally, the north east of England has the strongest employment outlook, with 15 per cent for firms expecting to employ more people than expecting to sack staff, welcome news for a region where unemployment is still running at 10 per cent.
The outlook of firms in London is more muted, but four per cent more firms still expect to increase than decrease staff numbers.
The unemployment rate has dropped at speed with the economy’s recovery, down to 7.2 per cent in the three months to December, from 7.8 per cent as recently as mid-2013.