Jobs: Employment market at ‘strongest for three years’ but pay drops

The majority of employment sectors are in better shape at the end of 2012 than they were at the same point in 2011 with 15 sectors (45 per cent) growing by more than 15 per cent during 2012, with the charity and voluntary, education and safety and security all showing exponential growth of more than 50 per cent, says the recruitment firm.

But pay remains an issue. Growth in salaries remained flat with the index registering a fall of 1 per cent across the year.

Mark Rhodes, marketing director at reed.co.uk, said: “We have seen growth across the board in the majority of sectors and regions as employers become increasingly less cautious about their approach to taking on new personnel.

“While the wider economic climate makes it difficult to make predictions for the year ahead, the growing sense of optimism among employers is likely to persist and leading official indicators such as the latest ONS figures also continue to point towards an upward trend in jobs growth. There will undoubtedly continue to be bumps along the way but 2013 promises to be another year of continued recovery.”