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Robert Walters has axed lots of of employees because it battles a slowdown in hiring world wide.

The recruitment consultancy mentioned it had axed about 220 roles within the final three months of final yr, taking its complete headcount down to three,980.

The firm reported a 13pc slowdown in charge earnings to £91.4m as firms world wide have had their hiring plans derailed by increased rates of interest.

Chief government Toby Fowlston mentioned: “Despite the challenging macro-economic conditions, the group has delivered a resilient fourth quarter and FY23 profit before tax will be in-line with market expectations.”

Robert Walters’ struggles comes as Britain finds itself within the grip of the longest hunch in jobs vacancies on report as increased rates of interest knock the labour market.

A complete of 949,000 positions had been marketed within the three months to November, in response to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which was down nearly 1 / 4 of 1,000,000 from the variety of posts marketed a yr in the past.

Rival recruiter Hays introduced on Tuesday it had axed 650 jobs throughout its workforce because it tried to offset what it known as a “clear slowdown” within the labour market.

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What occurred in a single day

Asian shares rose forward of US inflation knowledge that might affect the Federal Reserve’s considering on price cuts, whereas the crypto world obtained a lift after exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to trace bitcoin had been permitted within the United States.

Japan’s Nikkei breached 35,000 for the primary time since February 1990 in a blistering begin to the yr, after rising 28pc in 2023, its strongest yearly efficiency in a decade.

The Nikkei closed up 1.8pc, or 608.14 factors, to 35,049.86 whereas the broader Topix index added 1.6pc, or 38.39 factors to 2,482.87.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta had been additionally effectively up.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 prime American firms rose 0.45pc, to 37,695.73, whereas the S&P 500 gained 0.57pc, closing at 4,783.45. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index added 0.75pc, reaching 14,969.65.

The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds superior one foundation level to 4.03pc.