January 2005 job creation figures released - 43,249 positions created

Over 43,200 jobs were created across the UKís 21 key industries as the New Year gets into full swing. There has been an increase of 39% in job creation compared to January 2004 making the start of the year successful for employment prospects. A new category of front-runners has also emerged in 2005. Transport, distribution and storage has seen a positive JCI of 302 whilst over 13,400 jobs have been created in the public sector, an increase of 7,965 compared to this time last year for this industry.

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 from a year ago. From these figures, the following trends have been highlighted:
Januaryís Front Runners

Transport, distribution and storage ñ This sector has jumped to the top of the job creation ladder with a positive JCI of 302

Finance and banking ñ New year resolutions to save money and get financial houses in order in 2005 has been reflected in the number of jobs created in this sector as this industry emerges with a positive JCI of 232

Food and drink ñ This sector continues to thrive from its success at the end of 2004 with a positive JCI of 227 in January

Public sector ñ As the media reports on the increase of graduates entering the government sector, this has been reflected in the job creation index. The highest numbers of jobs were created in this sector in January 2005. An increase of nearly 8,000 positions compared to January 2004

Januaryís Chasers
Media and Marketing ñ The end of 2004 saw a downturn in job creation for this sector and this continues into 2005. With the decline in graduates entering this sector, the job creation index continues to drop to -96

Chemicals, pharmaceuticals and medical products ñ This sector was the only industry that created no jobs in January 2005, putting this industry at the bottom on the JCI

Richard MacMillan, Managing Director of Adecco UK and Ireland said: ì2005 has started off as a strong year with some interesting sectors emerging as front runners. Transport, distribution and storage have seen a great start to the year as the leader on the job creation index, whilst Finance banking and the Food and drink sector have also shown strong growth in 2005. Recently there has been a lot of press around the rise in graduates entering the public sector and this has been reflected in the JCI with over 13,400 jobs created this month.î

MacMillan continues, ìIt is always interesting to see the results at the end of the first month in a new year as predications begun to be drawn for the year as a whole. This month the overall JCI is 39 and therefore sets a positive standard for the coming months.î

Ray Murphy of Mandis commented, A comparison of job creation over the two months January 2005 and December 2004 brings to attention some interesting movements principally reflecting seasonal issues at the turn of the year. The Building and Food & Drink sectors are up 300% and 75% respectively, Retailing and Property show slippage of 80% and 60% respectively, while the Engineering / Energy areas show relatively stable levels of recruitment.

The Mandis/Adecco Job Creation Index is the ongoing monthly tracker of UK jobs created across 21 industries in the UK that enables year on year monthly comparisons. This ëliveí data is gathered via research during each month into the employment intentions of 500 leading UK organisations, providing a key, up-to-date indicator on economic performance and confidence across the sectors. The monthly study is conducted by Mandis Business Intelligence and sponsored by Adecco, the UKís largest recruiter.