More sectors are hiring staff than at any time in 16 months

More industries across Britain’s economy were hiring than at any time in the past 16 months in August, according to the latest Lloyds Bank UK Sector Tracker.
Ten of the 14 sectors monitored said that they had increased their headcount month-on-month — one more than in July, and the most since April 2023.
Estate agents hired at the fastest pace as the property market showed signs of recovery, followed by financial services, software services, and technology equipment manufacturers. The latter increased its headcount for the first time in a year. The majority of tracked sectors also saw an increase in demand and output.
After a summer of near-stagnation, rising employment is a signal that businesses are growing in confidence that they can accommodate more staff.
Nikesh Sawjani, senior UK economist at Lloyds Bank, said: “This should translate into higher output across more sectors and provides an encouraging sign that the UK economy resumed growing in August after stagnating in June and July.”
The tracker, which compiles responses from about 1,300 private sector companies, also found that nine of the 14 sectors registered cost inflation below the long-term average.
Aled Patchett, head of retail and consumer goods at Lloyds Bank, said business owners will welcome weaker cost pressure after a difficult summer. He added: “Some firms will be in a stronger position than others to pass on better costs. Businesses will be keeping a close eye on any interest rate movements to help them balance their pricing strategy while maintaining a competitive advantage.”
Costs rose fastest in the tourism and recreation sector — which includes pubs, hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities — driven by increases in food prices, wages and supplier costs.
It’s a more mixed picture for food and drink manufacturers. While they saw a sharp rise in domestic demand, which enabled them to lead output growth for two months in a row, they were hit by backlogs in workload and reduced their headcount instead of increasing it.
The Bank of England is widely expected to hold its base rate at 5 per cent when its monetary policy committee meets on Thursday. Since the August meeting, when the MPC cut the base rate by a quarter-point, unemployment has fallen while wage rises continue to stabilise, taking the pressure off the committee to make another cut this week.