Stocks to watch amid UK’s cooling job market

The UK’s job market shows signs of a slowdown amid recession fears. Latest official figures have unveiled that while the country is moving towards potentially the century’s longest recession, its unemployment rate has increased over the quarter to September.

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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data has shown that the unemployment rate in the country went up from 3.5% in the quarter to August to 3.6% in the quarter to September. Even though majority of the economists were anticipating that the unemployment rate would continue to be the same, this rate hike happened with more people quitting the workforce, along with an increase in the percentage of people neither working nor seeking out jobs.

The ONS figures have additionally uncovered a loss of more than half a million working days due to strikes from August to September, and the two-month figure hasn’t been this high in over a decade. There was an additional decline in vacancies amid the pessimistic economic outlook as more employers held themselves back from recruiting new people.

While the UK job market signals a slowdown amid the worsening economic situation, investors can keep an eye on the following recruitment stocks.

Hays plc (LON: HAS)

The returns given by the FTSE250 firm putting forward recruitment and HR-related services, Hays plc, respectively stood at -26.86% and -20.11% on annual and YTD (year to date) basis as of 15 November. HAS shares were down by 1.20 points, or 1.02%, at around 12:00 PM (GMT) on the same day and were trading at GBX 116.90. The company’s turnover at the time of writing stood at £675,024.11, while it had a market capitalisation of £1,893.54 million. Furthermore, its EPS (earning per share) stood at 0.09.

SThree plc (LON: STEM)

The returns given by the internationally operating firm which concentrates on staffing, SThree plc, respectively stood at -27.96% and -10.72% on annual and YTD basis as of 15 November. STEM shares were up by 0.50 points, or 0.12%, at around 12:00 PM (GMT) on the same day and were trading at GBX 414.50. The company’s turnover at the time of writing stood at £51,463.21, while it had a market capitalisation of £556.58 million. Furthermore, its EPS stood at 0.32.

Robert Walters plc (LON: RWA)

The returns of the UK-based group which hires people for temporary and permanent jobs, Robert Walters plc, respectively stood at -35.79% and -31.29% on annual and YTD basis as of 15 November. RWA shares were down by 20.00 points, or 3.64%, at around 12:00 PM (GMT) on the same day and were trading at GBX 530.00. The company’s turnover at the time of writing stood at £20,472.40, while it had a market capitalisation of £411.64 million. Furthermore, its EPS stood at 0.46.