by business editor Trevor Sturgess

The number of people placed in full-time work has risen at the
fastest rate in more than two years, according to a survey.

In a rare highlight on the employment front, permanent
placements grew last month (Feb) for the fifth month in a row. It
has grown at the fastest rate since July 2007.

Despite a sharp increase in unemployment across the county - at
37,328, the highest it has been since May 1997 - recruitment
specialists report vacancies increased at sharpest rate for more
than two-and-a-half years and permanent staff salaries have
risen.

But the survey also found that pay for temps has remained
largely static.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG Report on Jobs - based on data from 400 firms - found overall demand for staff continued to increase in February, a trend seen for the past five months.

Sharper increases in demand were recorded for both permanent and
temporary/contract staff.

However, the number of candidates available to fill vacancies
rose at a slower rate. The latest increases in both permanent and
temporary/contract staff availability were the weakest since April
2008.

Kevin Green, REC chief executive, said: "The UK jobs market is
continuing to improve. Increasing employer confidence has resulted
in the best performance we’ve seen in permanent employment for two
and a half years.

"High-end sectors such as IT are showing particularly strong
growth and we are also seeing significant increases in demand for
admin and back-office support."

But he warned that public sector jobs could drop off fast. "We
question whether the public sector has the right capability in
place to lead the necessary transformation and put in place
staffing structures that will keep costs down while improving
public services. Rather than responding with random job cuts, the
public sector needs to embrace radical reform."

Bernard Brown, partner and head of business services at KPMG,
aded: "The latest figures seem to confirm that the UK jobs market
is on the road to recovery."