Salaries rose in five out of six major industries, according to the new trends report produced by SIA for APSCo based on data from November. It also found permanent jobs across the professional staffing sectors rose 4% year over year, although there is evidence of a slowdown compared to previous months. Flexible assignments are down 8% year over year.

Industries recording increases in salaries included social care, marketing, engineering, financial services and IT. The increase in IT salaries was 2.5% year over year. The only decline was in sales, where salaries fell 2.9%.

“It is encouraging that five out of six professional markets are seeing salaries grow, and the forward prospects are good,” APSCo Chief Executive Ann Swain said. “There is no doubt that right now, it is a candidate marketplace and certain markets are booming, which has a certain irony when we consider the political and economic flux as we get closer to the March [Brexit] deadline.”

However, the report found permanent vacancies in the professional market fell 3% year over year while flexible vacancies fell 6%.

Permanent placements fell on a year-over-year basis in engineering, finance, marketing and social work. It was a different story for IT, where permanent placements rose 38.5% year over year.

“The strong growth in IT placements is in stark contrast to other professional categories where candidate shortages are being exacerbated by people’s hesitance to move jobs in the continuing uncertain pre-Brexit environment,” said John Nurthen, Staffing Industry Analysts’ executive director of global research.

IT staffing in the UK is also discussed in a recent Staffing Industry Review Online article.