MNI DATA IMPACT: UK Recruitment Muted In July: KPMG/REC

     LONDON (MNI) - Brexit uncertainty continued to hurt both demand and supply

of labour across the UK, the KPMG/REC Jobs report, published Thursday said.

     The Permanent Placements index remained in contractionary territory for the

fifth time this year but improved in July to 49.7 from 48.7 in June.

     Billings from temporary staff hirings stood at 50.3 in July compared with

50.8 in June.

     Overall job vacancies picked up slightly to a four-month high in July,

although temporary vacancies expanded at the slowest pace in seven years.

     High employment rate and uncertain outlook for Brexit discouraged workers

to look for a new job. Availability of staff for a temporary role continued to

exceed that for permanent, the report showed.

     Limited availability of skilled candidates continued to put upward pressure

on salaries. Temporary pay growth stood at a four-month low of 57.3 in July. The

permanent salaries index eased to 58.8 in July from 59.1 in June. The inflation

rate of starting salary was the softest since April 2017.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com