Firms’ gloom deepens over economy

BOSSES are increasingly fearful about the economy and job prospects, a survey shows.

Business confidence fell in October for the third month running, say the Recruitment & Employment Federation. Demand for temporary workers is falling, apart from in lower-skill jobs, while bosses in health and social care fear a staff shortage .

Hiring of permanent staff remained strong but conditions could be changing, REC warned. Official figures last week showed unemployment at its lowest level since 1975 at 4.3 per cent, but this masked falling real wages and a boom in insecure jobs.

REC chief Kevin Green said three months of declining confidence was very worrying.

He called on the Government to bring greater certainty so firms Oil RSA RBS J Sainsbury SSE Severn Trent Serco Sports Direct Shell Sky Smith & Nephew Smith WH 632.0 281.0 246.4 1385.0 2136.0 117.8 391.1 2385.0 939.5 1410.0 2033.0 +2.0 +1.5 0.0 -12.0 -1.0 +1.6 -1.8 +22.0 -0.5 -8.0 +1.0 can hire and invest. “The jobs market’s unprecedented growth is at a tipping point. We’re looking for political leadership,” he added.

Green said the NHS could suffer this winter if EU nationals decide to go home as they make up a tenth of health workers. Euro Australian Dollar Bulgarian Lev Canadian Dollar Croatian Kuna Czech Koruna Hungarian Forint New Zealand Dollar Polish Zloty South African Rand Swiss Franc Thai Baht Turkish Lira UAE Dirham US Dollar