STEM, RWA, STAF: Good time to enter these recruitment stocks?

Highlights:

• The UK job market is starting to cool down amid economic uncertainties.
• June saw the weakest growth in job openings in over a year.

With the month-on-month rise in inflation, fears of a recession have gripped the economy. Despite these fears, the UK government has been boasting of the high employment rate in recent months. However, things may change soon.

The country's job market is losing steam due to economic uncertainty. According to a report, job openings in June saw the weakest growth in over a year. 

The report has been published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG, which surveyed about 400 recruitment consultancies. It states that soaring costs and a shortage of candidates have led to a slowdown in the jobs market. Among the reasons for this shortage is the current economic situation in the country. Due to the uncertainties, people are now hesitant to switch jobs. 

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The starting pay also continued to rise in June, as employers increased the wages in an attempt to attract more skilled candidates. 

What does the government data say?

The latest available data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) is for the February to April quarter, when the UK's employment rate rose to 75.6%. As per the data, there were a total of 29.6 million payrolled employees in May. 

Here's how London-listed recruitment stocks are performing in the current scenario.

SThree Plc (LON: STEM)

The company offers staffing solutions to its clients in several sectors, including IT, finance, energy, and engineering, among others. It holds a market cap of £486.89 million, and the share value has plunged by 22.87% over the past 12 months. Shares of the company were 0.14% down as of 2:34 pm GMT+1 on 8 July 2022.

Robert Walters Group (LON: RWA)

With a market cap of £404.34 million, shares of the London-based staffing firm were trading at GBX 524.00, down by 0.38%, as of 2:37 pm on Friday. The company saw record growth in the second quarter of 2022 ended 30 June 2022. Its group net fee jumped by 25% year-on-year to £112 million. Its shares have given the investors a negative return of 32.52% over the past year, while the year-to-date return stands at -31.95%. 

Staffline Group Plc (LON: STAF)

The UK-based company is among the country's leading recruitment firms, providing permanent, temporary, and contractual employment services to clients. It currently holds a market cap of £73.34 million, and its one-year return stands at -24.52%. The YTD return is -29.97% at present. Shares of the FTSE AIM All-Share constituent stood at GBX 44.40, down by 0.23%, as of 2:45 pm GMT+1 on Friday.

Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.