Latest data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation suggests that there is an increased polarisation between the public and private sector in terms of employment prospects.

REC’s Jobs Barometer shows employer confidence fell by three points in July after five successive months of improvement.

JobsOutlook suggests that although business confidence has generally stabilised, this has not translated into short-term hiring due to continuing economic uncertainty.

Whilst long term prospects for jobs growth remain optimistic, the number of redundancies reported in July has edged upwards.

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s Director of Research, believes the data reveals some interesting trends:

“The results show a growing public sector ‘drag’ effect on overall labour market optimism. We know that certain sectors within the private sector are currently buoyant and expect growth to continue throughout 2010 and it is likely that this polarising effect will continue for a while as different parts of the economy emerge from the recession at different rates.

“At a national level, continued uncertainty about the strength of the economic recovery makes it difficult for many employers to be more positive about their immediate hiring plans. The encouraging news is that medium term optimism remains relatively strong and this is likely to be a good indicator of underlying sentiment.”

He continued: “Recent surveys have suggested that large numbers of workers are now seriously looking to change jobs for the first time in two years in spite of low levels of overall consumer confidence. This activity could well improve trading conditions for many recruiters as the jobless recovery continues.”

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