Wages and vacancies in the financial services industry are falling, according to research from City recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.

Wages and vacancies in the financial services industry are falling, according to research from City recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.

New job vacancies in the City of London fell by nearly one-third in November compared with the previous month, and were down 59 per cent year on year at 3,780.

The average City salary was £46,516, down two per cent compared with November 2007. The pay of senior professionals and directors fell 11.5 per cent, to £63,571.

Despite the thousands of redundancies in London’s financial services industry over the past 12 months, the number of individuals looking for a new role fell by 17 per cent year on year as those already in jobs put off searching for new ones.

Robert Thesiger, CEO of Morgan McKinley’s parent company Imprint, says the industry continues to face ‘extraordinary circumstances’. He adds, ‘New job growth is expected to slow further throughout the Christmas and new year period, as is always the case at this time of year. However, there is no doubt that [the seasonal effect] will be exacerbated by current market conditions.’

There are currently two candidates for every available City job, compared with one jobhunter per vacancy a year ago, the research reveals.