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 The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said the problem opened up opportunities for workers with the right skills. The number of people placed in new jobs increased last month, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year, the research revealed.

 The REC said its permanent placements index fell to 56.3 in August from 60.2 in July. The index has been declining since March when it hit a 12-year high of 65.2.

 The number of permanent and contract jobs in the IT sector increased over the last 12 months but growth has slowed since the first quarter of 2010, according to the report.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC, said: "We are concerned about the UK jobs market. Growth is rapidly slowing as public sector job freezes start to bite and private sector employers' confidence remains fragile.

"The young are being disproportionately affected by the worst labour market in over two decades. The report does however highlight the emergence of specific shortage areas which will provide opportunities for those with the right skills. A priority for Government is to ramp up the support and guidance for job-seekers and to raise awareness of these growth areas within our labour market."

The latest figures show that the number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 49,000 in the three months to the end of June, to 2.46 million.

However, a number of analysts expect that number to rise in the coming months as a result of public sector hiring freezes and job losses that will result from government spending cuts designed to reduce the country's budget deficit and calls are again going out to the government to increase support and awareness within the increasingly fragile local labour market.

 Bernard Brown of KPMG, which helped with the report, added: "A look at the sectors reveals the growing disparity between the public and private sector. Whereas demand for staff is growing in the private sector, many public sector organisations have started redundancy programmes.

"If they are still recruiting they are doing so at a reduced pace. In the months ahead we will see a substantial reduction in public sector headcount as the cuts begin to bite. That is the painful but inevitable consequence of the coalition Government's determination to tackle the UK's massive structural deficit" adding that “The big question is whether the private sector can create new jobs in sufficient numbers and quickly enough to offset the downturn in the public sector.”

The trade unions group is calling on the government to reconsider its "deep, early" spending cuts following signs they are already dampening growth and costing jobs.

"Young people were hit particularly hard by the recession and with the government focusing on spending cuts, rather than getting people back into work, they may not fare much better during the recovery," said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.