London’s financial services employment market is showing signs of life, according to data from specialist recruiter Morgan McKinley, with the number of new job vacancies rising by 14 per cent in May compared with the previous month.

The time taken for people seeking work to get a financial job fell to an average of 55 days, six days less than it took their counterparts in April, the report, which tracks trends in the sector, said.

The data did not provide distinct data on the state of the wealth management jobs market, but the figures are broadly indicative of trends across financial services.

Since the financial crisis erupted, thousands of jobs in the UK financial sector have been lost, including among the wealth management industry, although the latter sector has stood up to the turmoil relatively well, in contrast to investment banking. Firms such as Barclays Wealth, UBS and Coutts have shed some staff, while other wealth managers, such as at Standard Chartered, have announced aggressive hiring plans.

The Morgan McKinley report noted, that despite some signs of improvement, there were still 62 per cent fewer new job opportunities coming onto the market than in May last year.

The volume of new candidates registering their interest for a role in London’s financial services sector increased by 18 per cent during May versus April.

“As some recent economic indicators have shown, confidence within London’s financial services industry has improved over the last few weeks and this has translated into a slight increase in hiring activity during May 2009,” said Andrew Evans, managing director at Morgan McKinley.

“Recently, a number of firms which had put their recruitment plans on hold for the past six to 12 months, have started to hire again, albeit at suppressed levels,” he said.

The average salary in London’s financial district registered £49,238 (around $80,800) in May 2009, a 2 per cent rise on the same month the previous year but a fall of 6 per cent from April this year.