Management consulting and accountancy saw a combined growth of 0.4 per cent, while within financial services the insurance sector experienced the biggest decline at 2.3 per cent, followed by banking at 1.6 per cent and fund management at 0.8 per cent.

Net increase

The report -- TheCityUK’s London Employment Survey – found that there was a net increase of 2,700 jobs in the first half of the year, propelled by a 1.5 per cent growth in professional services. The increase offset a 0.5 per cent decrease in financial services employment over the same period.
Overall, the survey showed that 2012 growth was slower than expected, but overall London headcount had remained stable.

Sluggish

‘The financial and professional services sector is critical to the UK economy and London is the number one financial centre in the world,’ said Chris Cummings, chief executive of TheCityUK. ‘However, we can’t afford to be complacent. The job market is still sluggish and London is facing competition from other financial centres, including those in Asia and America. We need to do all we can to ensure that London remains attractive to talented employees as a place to work, and that firms are able to compete against their peers in the US and Far East.’