New City jobs down by a quarter on 2007 - report
LONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - The number of new jobs in the City of London financial hub fell by 23 percent in March from a year ago as banks cut back hiring, a report by Morgan McKinley recruiters showed on Thursday.
Almost 9,900 people were chasing around 8,100 jobs in March, with the number of candidates exceeding the number of vacancies for a fourth consecutive month, the company said.
"The remainder of 2008 will be tough for both the financial services industry and financial services recruitment," said Robert Thesiger, who heads Morgan McKinley's parent company Imprint Plc IMP.L.
The City is smarting from losses stemming from risky mortgage business in the United States and a slowdown in deal-making due to a global liquidity squeeze.
"While some of the larger organisations may have slowed their hiring in certain areas, smaller financial institutions are pushing forward with their expansion plans. Increased levels of recruitment within these areas have partly offset the slowdown elsewhere," Thesiger said.
Those who secured a job in March took on average two months to do so, two weeks longer than the time required in March 2007. (Reporting by Olesya Dmitracova; Editing by David Hulmes)
