Is Britain’s economy being starved of talent?

How is the Prime Minister’s bid to turn Britain into a high-wage economy progressing? It couldn’t be going better just at the moment, to judge by a survey by IHS Markit for KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. In September – data was collected between the 13 and 24 September – there was a sharp rise in hiring, while starting salaries were rising at their fastest pace in the 24 years in which the survey has been undertaken. The number of permanent as well as temporary appointments was high, although the latter fell back from a record high in August. The survey suggests that the jobs market turned in February and has been strong ever since then.

The survey reinforces ONS data suggesting a strong labour market. The last figures published by the ONS, for August, showed a month-on-month increase of 240,000 payroll employees, taking the overall level of employment back to where it was in February 2020.