Britain’s jobs market cooled in October, with recruiters placing fewer people into permanent roles for the first time in four months, according to the latest monthly survey from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
The survey’s permanent placements index fell to 46.6, down from 50.9 in September and its lowest reading since May. A figure below 50 indicates contraction. Temporary staff billings also slipped, to 48.9 from 50.9, the first fall since March.
Recruiters pointed to firms’ worries about the economy and rising costs. The availability of candidates for both permanent and temporary roles edged up, while permanent vacancies contracted at the softest pace since August 2024 and temporary vacancies rose marginally.
Pay moved in the opposite direction. Starting salaries for permanent staff rose at a faster pace in October, and average pay for temporary workers also increased more quickly, as employers competed for candidates who remain in short supply. Even so, pay growth on both measures stayed below the survey’s long-run averages.
The survey was compiled by S&P Global from the responses of around 400 recruitment and employment consultancies, gathered between 12 and 26 October, before Chancellor John Healey’s Budget on 28 October and before the Bank of England raised interest rates last week.
KPMG’s Jon Holt warned that businesses will now be judging whether the Budget gives them enough stability to absorb higher costs and external pressures, and that with the Bank of England raising rates and inflation set to keep rising, the green shoots seen in the jobs market could stall.
The Bank of England raised Bank Rate by a quarter point to 4% last week, its first increase since August 2023, and its policymakers warned that at least one more rise was likely if the conflict between the United States and Iran continues. Investors see at least two further quarter-point increases in 2027.
The figures come from a single industry survey, and they cover a period before both the Budget and the rate rise, so they do not yet capture how employers have reacted to either.
Sources: Reuters, “UK employers report weaker hiring but stronger pay growth in October”, 9 November 2026 (https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-employers-report-weaker-hiring-stronger-pay-growth-october-2026-11-09/); KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs, October 2026.
