THE number of people finding permanent jobs in Scotland rose at the fastest pace in a year during April, according to a well-watched economic survey.
The Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs found permanent placements grew for the second month in a row giving further hope the recovery in Scotland may be gathering pace.
The research showed a reading of 57.2 last month, where a reading above 50 represents an improvement in market conditions and anything below shows deterioration, which was up from the 53.4 posted in March.
The report said permanent salaries rose at the fastest pace since May last year while demand for temporary places also quickened and was at a three-month high.
Meanwhile, the Bank's Labour Market Barometer, a composite indicator meant to provide a snapshot of labour market conditions, was up from 53 in March to 54 in April and the highest recorded so far this year.
That also kept the Scottish Barometer above the UK index which dipped slightly from 52.3 to 52.2.
Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, said: "April's Barometer rose for the second month in a row to the highest level of 2013.
"Both the number of people placed into permanent and temporary jobs rose while vacancies increased in the month.
"Salaries for permanent jobs showed the strongest rise since May 2012. These results provide further evidence for the Scottish economy beginning to demonstrate a more robust recovery."
The Report on Jobs is based on a monthly survey of 105 recruitment and employment agencies operating in Scotland.
The recruiters attributed the quicker pace of placements to greater demand from clients due to increased business activity and a more buoyant labour market.
Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh all posted higher levels of permanent and temporary placements during April.
Of the four sectors which were reporting more demand for permanent staff the IT and computing and engineering and construction sectors were said to have led the overall expansion with both sectors enjoying marked increases from March, although hotel and catering and accounts and financial also saw a modest rise.
In temporary roles five sectors saw growth with the nursing, medical and care category leading the way.
The accounts and financial, hotel and catering, and executive and professional categories all reported declines in April.
There was a general deterioration in the availability of permanent candidates across the month with Glasgow seeing the sharpest fall in staff.
Aberdeen saw the greatest decline in temporary workers although across all sectors the availability of temp workers rose for the third month in a row.
Wages for both permanent and temporary staff rose most sharply in Aberdeen.
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