The second quarter of 2011 witnessed a climb in the number of finance jobs in the UK available, new statistics show.

According to the figures from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Confederation of British Industry, the country saw 11,000 positions created in the sector, despite a dip in the pace of growth of the financial services industry.

Business volumes stood higher over the three months to June 2011, although the rate of expansion was lower than the previous periods.

The jump in employment during the quarter in question was the sharpest since the start of the financial crisis almost four years ago.

In addition, firms polled stated they expected to continue hiring over the coming months, with staff costs as a proportion of total expenditure rising during the April-June quarter.

"Despite this quarter's slowdown in profitability, the industry is still bullish on employee numbers and is expecting profitability to pick up," PwC UK banking leader Andrew Gray stated.

The overall UK employment rate climbed by 0.1 points during the quarter to June 2011 to 70.6 per cent, the Office for National Statistics recently announced.

Posted by Alex Donnell