There are some interesting figures in the latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook survey:

• Eighty-six per cent of employers responding to the survey intend to recruit staff this autumn, in line with the 86% and 85% recorded in the spring and summer Labour Market Outlook surveys respectively.
• Forty-six per cent of employers surveyed intend to recruit additional staff this quarter (a sharp increase from the summer survey figure of 39% and the highest recorded since spring 2005).  Forty one per cent of employers intended to recruit additional staff during the corresponding quarter last year.
• In private sector services 59% of employers intend to recruit additional staff.   However, only 25% of employers in public services expect to recruit additional staff.
• Forty-nine per cent of employers surveyed anticipate recruitment difficulties this quarter (unchanged from the spring quarter).
• The proportion of employers intending to make some staff redundant has fallen from 20% to 17% since the summer survey. In 49% of cases, 10 or more employees will be made redundant.

It looks like employers are fairly optimistic about employment prospects, despite the forecasts of an economic slowdown next year.