Recruiters have identified pockets of demand as trade volumes in manufacturing sustain a “rapid deterioration”.

The Confederation of British Industry’s quarterly Industrial Trends Survey, found 56% of companies were reporting a fall in the volume of new orders in Q4 of 2008, compared with the previous quarter, and just 14% reporting a rise - the lowest balance since July 1991.

However, recruiters are still recruiting.  

“There are pockets of good activity around - the defence and aviation side remains strong.”

Jon Rance, senior consultant at Jonathan Lee Recruitment

Jon Rance, senior consultant at Jonathan Lee Recruitment, told Recruiter the company is experiencing expansion in aerospace manufacturing recruitment, including processing 19 permanent vacancies for General Electrics Aviation Airbus projects.

“There are pockets of good activity around - the defence and aviation side remains strong.”

Employment fell sharply, with 45% of companies saying that they employed fewer people than in the previous three months, while just 7% said they employed more people.

Order books in the manufacturing sector shrank by 4.6%, according to
Preliminary Office for National Statistics data.

Ian McCafferty, the CBI’s chief economic adviser, says: “Sentiment and the outlook for the next three months are also very negative. Most firms expect conditions to get even worse, with further falls in orders expected, leading to more job cuts.”