City jobs market is better, but still not very good

After June's year to date peak in new City job numbers, the July figures from Morgan McKinley's monthly snapshot show that they've fallen off slightly - by 7% to be exact. But, there are still more jobs than throughout most of 2009, and there are signs that things are slowly getting better.

But, if things are looking moderately upbeat compared to other periods of 2009, the situation is still comparatively bleak year on year. City-based financial services jobs are down 59% versus July 2008.

Andrew Evans, MD of Morgan McKinley's financial services practice, says: "With employers' increasing commitment to hire and a gradual improvement in City confidence levels, the month on month drop is more likely to be the result of seasonal factors rather than a further weakening in the jobs market."

There's similar positive sentiment coming from predominantly back office recruiter Michael Page. Chief exec Steve Ingham, said that: "The hiring freeze at some of the biggest companies has been lifted. There is movement and that comes from a subtle shift in confidence."

But its results are still very downbeat. The firm posted a 40% drop in gross profit in the UK in the first half of 2009, with finance and accounting profits slipping by 47% across the group as a whole. And it's laid off 420 of its UK staff as at the end of June, but the recruiter says further redundancies are unlikely.

Source: Morgan McKinley