U.K. Employment Index Signals Hiring for First Time Since 2008

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. employment index showed recruitment may outpace job cuts this quarter for the first time since 2008 as companies benefit from the economic recovery.

The number of employers planning to increase staff levels in the second quarter exceeded those looking to cut headcount by 5 percentage points, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and KPMG LLP said in an e-mailed statement today. The balance in the first quarter was minus 5 percent.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who faces an election on May 6, said yesterday that the U.K. has emerged from recession with “a minimum of unemployment” after stimulus measures limited job cuts. The jobless total still reached the highest in 16 years in the quarter through February.

“A return to spring could mean a growth of full-time jobs in the private sector that may continue if the global economy continues to recover at the same rate,” CIPD spokeswoman Gerwyn Davies said in the statement. “In contrast, public-sector employers will be looking to close the lid on employment, pay and promotion.”

While the net balance of private companies expecting to add jobs was 29 percent, the net balance of government-related employers expecting to shed staff jumped to 43 percent, the highest level since records began in 2004, today’s report found.

Some London financial firms have started hiring bankers again. Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the lender 41 percent owned by the U.K. government, has said it plans to employ more sales and trading staff. Barclays Plc, the U.K.’s second-largest bank, has also been adding bankers at its securities unit.

CIPD and KPMG questioned almost 800 employers last month for the quarterly survey.