Here's what caught my eye.
Permanent placements are growing again
Only marginally, admittedly, but that's two consecutive months of growth. And given the last sustained period of growth was back in 2021/22, we'll take that!
Three of the four English regions reported an increase, with the North leading the charge. The South was the only region to see a decline.
There are still recruitment freezes out there, but signs that employers are beginning to hire again as business activity improves.
Temporary billings have cooled slightly
Temp growth continues, although September saw the weakest increase since the current run began in April.
London suffered a particularly sharp decline, while the North and Midlands helped keep things moving.
Interestingly, some employers appear to be favouring permanent hires over temporary workers. Perhaps another small indication that confidence is returning.
Vacancies are still falling, but only just
The decline in vacancies was the smallest in just over two years.
Official ONS figures put the number of vacancies at 702,000, the lowest since 2021 and, excluding the pandemic, the lowest since 2014.
But here's the interesting bit. Private sector permanent vacancies increased for the first time in more than two years.
That's worth paying attention to, even if the public sector continues to struggle.
Candidate availability remains high
Candidate numbers have been increasing for three and a half years, although the pace of growth is now slowing.
In fact, permanent candidate availability is growing at its weakest rate in three years.
There's still plenty of talent available, but if hiring continues to improve, don't expect the best candidates to hang around forever.
Pay growth is slowing
Permanent salary growth eased for the first time in four months, while temporary pay growth fell to a four-month low.
Official figures show private sector earnings growth at 3.2%, its weakest since 2020.
Clients will undoubtedly continue to push back on salaries and rates, but securing the right people still comes at a price.
Which sectors are showing promise?
Permanent vacancies increased in five of the ten sectors surveyed, with IT and computing, and engineering leading the way.
Retail and hotel and catering experienced the sharpest declines.
On the temporary side, growth was limited to blue collar, IT and computing, and nursing, medical and care.
Another perspective worth considering
Indeed's Hiring Lab measures live job postings rather than surveying recruiters, and its latest figures paint a slightly different picture.
Job postings appear to be stabilising, but remain around 31% below early 2020 levels.
There are currently just 0.4 vacancies for every unemployed person, compared with approximately 0.7 in 2019.
So while the direction of travel is encouraging, we're still climbing from a pretty low base.
So, what does it all mean?
Permanent recruitment is showing signs of life, temporary hiring has lost a little momentum, and employers are beginning to dip their toes back into the market.
KPMG describes it as a fragile recovery, while the REC reckons the permanent market is revving its engine.
I'm not entirely convinced about the latter just yet!
And with the Budget approaching, confidence could easily swing either way.
Still, after what has been a pretty bruising period for recruitment businesses, two consecutive months of permanent placement growth is something to welcome.
One final thing...
If you haven't benchmarked your recruitment business this year, now's a good time to do it as you start planning for 2027.
How does your business compare with your competitors? Where are you performing well, and where could you improve?
Our FREE business health check takes just five minutes to complete and gives you a useful starting point.
You can find it here: https://northstarpeople.com/
