More people were looking for jobs last month in London’s financial services industry than at any time in the past three and a half years, according to research released yesterday.

About 11,840 people were looking for banking jobs in April, up 20 per cent from March, outnumbering the 8,946 finance jobs advertised, Morgan McKinley, the recruitment consultant, said. An increase in the number of employed people looking for work reflected increasing job insecurity, it said.

The survey also showed that the average salary in the sector dropped 2 per cent to £48,807 in April.

A fall in bonuses is also forecast – the Centre for Economics and Business Research has said bonuses may plummet by 40 per cent to £5.1 billion in 2008, a five-year low.

The average time to get a new job has increased to almost 57 days in April from 50 days a year earlier, according to Morgan McKinley, showing that it is becoming more difficult to find a job in the City.

Financial companies have cut at least 70,000 jobs in the United States and Europe as a result of the sub-prime crisis.

Experian, the data provider, expects the final count could be 240,000 by the end of the year. Job losses in London’s banks may total 40,000 by the year end, according to JPMorgan Chase.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been plagued by rumours that it will cut 7,000 jobs after a £5.9 billion write-down and the ABN Amro takeover.

Robert Thesiger, the chief executive officer of Imprint, Morgan McKinley’s parent company, said: “Market sentiment and confidence is of paramount importance within the City, and there will need to be continued improvements before robust levels of hiring are restored.”

The Bank of England forecast this week that UK economic growth would be about 1 per cent by 2009, down from 3 per cent growth in 2007.

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