Still more hiring than firing, says CIPD

There is still more recruitment taking place in the labour market than redundancies, an economist from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has claimed.

Yesterday's jobs report by the CIPD and auditor KPMG discovered that the number of firms expected to announce redundancies was up in January, although John Philpot, the CIPD's Chief Economist, has maintained the jobs market remains strong.

Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live's Wake Up To Money programme, Mr Philpot stated: 'There's still more hiring than firing so obviously on balance the story is still good.'

He added that in an environment of economic uncertainty 'the job market has been one of the great success stories.'

According to the CIPD survey a fifth of firms are considering redundancies in the first quarter of 2008, however Mr Philpot noted that the influx of migrant workers could mean the unemployment rate stays low during the market slowdown.