Last week the Bank of England increased its forecast for economic growth in 2021 from 5 to 7.25 per cent. Now comes more evidence of an economic recovery that is gathering pace, in spite of many lockdown measures still being in place.
A UK report on jobs compiled by KPMG and REC, which uses data from 400 recruitment firms, measured in April the sharpest new increase in vacancies since it began in 1997. Contrary to the claims by the Labour party and others that British workers are facing a future of increasingly short-term contracts, the rise was principally down to a rise in vacancies for permanent roles which were at their highest since March 1998. The demand for temporary roles was at its highest since October 2014.
There is a danger the furlough scheme becomes a semi-permanent form of very expensive unemployment benefit
There is, however, a fly in the ointment. While the number of vacancies was at a record high the number of candidates available shrank in April.
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