Recruitment consultancies across the UK continued to signal tight labour market conditions at the end of 2021, according to the latest KPMG and REC, UK Report on Jobs survey. Permanent staff appointments and temp billings continued to rise at historically sharp rates, despite the upturns remaining weaker than the peaks seen during the summer. Vacancy growth softened slightly again, easing to an eight-month low, though overall demand for staff remained robust. At the same time, there were signs that candidate availability was moving in the right direction, with the latest drop in staff supply the least severe in eight months. Nonetheless, competition for scarce workers pushed up rates of starting pay for both permanent and temporary staff again, with the respective rates of inflation among the quickest on record.