LONDON, Aug 7 Reuters British employers reduced the number of new permanent staff they hired through recruitment agencies by the most since mid 2020 last month due to concerns about the economic outlook, adding to signs that the market is becoming tougher for job seekers.

A gauge of permanent staff hiring by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and accountants KPMG fell to 42.4, the lowest since the 34.3 in June 2020 when the country was in lockdown due to the COVID19 pandemic.

The survey39;s measure of temporary staff hiring, which often rises when employers are cautious about the outlook, in July showed the weakest growth in nine months partly because more workers were looking for the security of permanent roles.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of REC, said the jobs market remained fairly robust despite the slowdown in permanent placements.

To some extend this is normalisation as the postpandemic boom abates, but it is also driven by uncertainty, he said.

While starting pay for new permanent staff rose sharply by prepandemic standards, the rate of wage growth was the lowest since April 2021, REC said.

Claire Warnes, partner of skills and productivity at KPMG UK, said competition for skilled workers and cost of living pressures were keeping starting salaries high.

Monday39;s survey chimed with other indicators showing the labour market is loosening, welcome news for the Bank of England which raised interest rates for the 14th meeting in a row to 5.25…