The number of jobs in the City of London is expected to surge to a new high in 2006 after a rebound in merger and acquisition activity, a new report has suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) estimate that City employment is set to rise to 320,000 this year, an increase of some 4,000 jobs on 12 months ago, reaching 325,000 in 2006.
The prediction comes a month after a survey by recruiter Morgan McKinley found that two thirds of firms expect an increase in hiring of up to 20 per cent during 2005.
The previous peak of 324,000, during the dot come boom of 2000, was followed by a sharp drop to 305,000 in 2002 after the internet bubble burst.
Morgan McKinley's survey in late April found that technical accounting, risk, compliance and derivatives specialists were in particularly short supply and that the number of vacancies in the City had risen to more than 10,500, over double the number recorded a year ago.