The UK labour market gathered pace in November with recruitment consultancies reporting that staff placements and pay pressures were both higher. According to the report on jobs published by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, there was a thirtieth successive monthly rise in the number of people placed in permanent jobs in November. The pace of growth during the month was also the fastest in six months, the report said. Demand for workers was the strongest in the engineering and construction industry. At the same time, the pool of workers with the right skills shrank. Against this backdrop, pay pressures intensified with permanent staff salary inflation hitting a seven month high in November. Temporary and contract staff pay rates, meanwhile, grew at the fastest pace so far this year. The findings of the report goes against the latest official data from National Statistics showing that growth of average earnings -- including bonuses -- cooled slightly to 4.1 pct in the three months to September.