There will be fewer new jobs in public administration in the final quarter of this year, according to figures from the recruitment company, Manpower.Overall there has been a 10 per cent drop in the number of employers in the Public Administration and Defence Sector planning to take on more staff compared with the position in the previous quarter.

In contrast more than a third of employers in the field of health are planning to take on extra staff between October and December – the highest figure for any area of employment in the United Kingdom. That figure means overall the picture in the public sector, which includes public administration and defence, health and education, is still a positive one.

Manpower’s UK Managing Director, Iain Herbertson said, ” Although job prospects for the Public Admin and Defence sector are positive, results are disappointing. Businesses are not reflecting the employer confidence which fellow public sector area, Health, is reporting for the forthcoming quarter.”

The survey, which is now in its thirty-seventh year and which is seen as an important indicator of employment trends across the UK, asked 2,000 employers in 11 regions and split into 21 industry sector if they expected to increase or cut staff numbers in the last three months of the year

Prospects in the public sector as a whole are above the national average but Manpower says this is largely due to the large expected increase in health jobs. ” Health has reported a 10-year high with a balance of 38% of employers predicting increased staff levels in quarter four of 2002,” the report says. ” The sector is up 9 points on this time last quarter and 13 points on this time last year, one of the largest year-on-year increases across all the sectors,” it adds.

Iain Herebertson said, ” Our customers are telling us that they are busy, but they still feel nervous about adding to overheads which makes flexible staffing solutions a useful option.”