Dundee blazes a trail but permanent staff appointments rise at slowest rate in four months –BoS Report on Jobs

Aberdeen was the worst performer in Scotland for staff appointments in August, the report by research firm Markit showed.

As global oil prices continue to languish, the Granite City recorded a drop in full-time job awards, while temp billings grew marginally.

Candidate availability worsened, but the rate of decline was the slowest since May 2013.

The north-east was the only part of the country to register an increase in candidate availability as redundancies continued to befall the energy sector.

Dundee notched up the best figures in Scotland for appointments. It also enjoyed the fastest wage growth north of the border.

Across Scotland, permanent appointments increased, albeit at their slowest rate in four months. On a more positive note, the pace of temp appointments went up sharply.

The report identified a slowdown in permanent wage inflation in Scotland, though the rate of hourly pay growth picked up. But the picture was gloomier in Aberdeen, which suffered drops in both full-time and hourly pay.

The headline Bank of Scotland Labour Market Barometer – a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snapshot of labour market conditions – dipped to 56.2 in August, its lowest since May 2013.

The barometer was well above the 50.0 ‘no-change’ mark, but was substantially lower than the corresponding UK index which ticked up to a three-month high of 61.7.

Donald MacRae, Chief Economist at Bank of Scotland, said: “The number of people appointed to both permanent and temporary jobs rose in August as did the number of vacancies. The availability of candidates for jobs declined while starting salaries for permanent staff increased but at the slowest rate for two years. These results suggest the Scottish economy continues to grow but at a lower rate than this time last year.”