Adecco Mandis March 2008 Job Creation Index (JCI)

68,804 jobs were created across the UKís 21 key industries in March 2008. This figure is up by 114 per cent when compared to job creation in March 2007.

Job trend of the month

The Building and Construction sector was by far the best performer last month in terms of the absolute total numbers of new job creation intentions with 18,700, a 429% increase compared to the 3,536 recorded in March 2007.

The largest single announcement was from PD Ports (PDP) which received formal planning approval for its Northern Gateway Container Terminal (NGCT) at Teesport in the North East of England, in doing so creating at least 2,500 construction jobs. In addition, Stratford City Developments, the developer for the major new urban regeneration in the heart of East London, which will remain after the 2012 Olympics, announced developments creating another 2,000 construction jobs.

Marchís Top Sectors

Media, Marketing and Publishing ñ JCI Score: 510
Building and Construction ñ JCI Score: 429
Support Services ñ JCI Score: 275
Marchís Bottom Sectors
Property and Environment ñ JCI Score: -90
Chemicals & Pharmaceuticalsñ JCI Score: -88
Vehicles & Parts, including Air and Sea ñ JCI Score: -56

What the experts think

Philip Arnold, the Managing Director of Mandis, commented: ìExtending and improving upon on the overall positive position in February, the March 2008 figures are very upbeat. These results confirm the trend towards the expansion of lower paying jobs in the economy, in those business areas that cannot be outsourced overseas, but must be delivered by UK based employees. Hence the overall growth of 114% is very encouraging and will generate significant new short term taxation revenues; however, any satisfaction must be tempered by the fact that many of the new jobs are likely to be in traditionally less well-paid positions

About the JCI Index

The JCI figures are determined by comparing the number of jobs created within UK industrial sectors each month with the number of jobs created for the corresponding month in the previous year. The JCI figure shows individual industry performance, measured as a percentage above or below the number of jobs created in the same month one year ago.