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A man looks at literature in a job centre in Leicester, central England, October 13, 2009.
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LONDON - The labour market is slowly starting to recover, with the biggest increase in job vacancies in two-and-a-half years and a rise in permanent placements last month, a survey of recruitment agencies showed on Wednesday.
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The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which runs the monthly survey along with accountants KPMG, said that although the rate of growth in permanent placements slowed in January from December's two-year peak, the rebound remained on track.
"The labour market is out of intensive care but it is still in a fragile state," said REC chief executive Kevin Green, adding that the recovery was tentative and could be damaged by higher employment taxes or more regulation.
The permanent placement index slipped to 60.5 from December's 62.8, but remained above the 50-level that separates growth from contraction for a sixth consecutive month.
The vacancies index for permanent staff rose to 61.9 from 60.6, its highest since July 2007.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the unemployment rate eased to 7.8 percent in the three months to November compared to 7.9 percent in the three months to October on the internationally comparable ILO measure.
Unemployment has risen less in Britain than in many other countries which exited recession earlier -- something economists attribute in part to greater wage flexibility than in previous downturns.
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Ron Askew)
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