London employment woes seem to be easing

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It said that firms are preparing to start hiring staff again and "moderate headcount growth" is expected in the capital in the first three months of 2010 after a year of decline.

UK unemployment presently stands at 2.5 million or 7.8% although the percentage is considerably higher in London. But in its Employment Outlook Survey which took readings from 2100 firms, Manpower found businesses were more positive in London than the UK as a whole and that outlook in the City was particularly bullish.

Mark Cahill, managing director at Manpower, said: "The glimmer of hope we saw last quarter is now turning into an encouraging spark."

Paul Laurie, operations manager at Manpower, said: "As the UK's financial centre, London was the first region to feel the full force of the recession.

"These results could be a first indicator that, for London's labour market, the worst might be over. The positive outlook within the finance and business services sector is great news for the City, and may be a significant reason for the region's return to confidence."

However, confidence in the public sector fell as both Labour and the Conservatives prepared for heavy spending cuts after the election to slash government debt.

Cahill said: "For the first time we have seen a dip in the hiring confidence of the public sector. Despite this, we believe that we are very unlikely to reach the estimated three million UK unemployed."

Alan Clarke, economist at BNP Paribas, said: "The uptick is welcome news That said, an even bigger improvement might have been expected given the surge in positive business sentiment we've seen in a number of surveys. Hence, Manpower's survey provides a useful reality check that although the recession is probably over, we are still some way away from longer-term stability."