Average salaries for full-time workers in Scotland are rising faster than they have done for five years.
The latest Bank of Scotland report on Jobs reflects the ongoing improvement in the Scottish jobs market, which has seen unemployment fall for seven months in a row.
Figures released last week revealed the number of people without jobs in Scotland fell by 6,000 to 194,000 between February and April.
The Bank of Scotland report found that recruitment firms placed a greater number of people in both permanent and temporary jobs for several months.
The number of people they placed in permanent positions rose to its highest level since January.
Salaries also rose markedly in May, with the sharpest rate of inflation in five years.
Donald MacRae, chief economist at Bank of Scotland, said: “May’s barometer showed a strong improvement in Scottish labour market conditions.
“The number of people placed into both permanent and temporary jobs rose in the month while vacancies increased across most sectors.
“These results provide further evidence that business confidence is slowly being restored, enabling the Scottish economy to record much sought-after growth during 2013.”
Recruitment agencies in Aberdeen recorded the strongest increase in permanent placements last month, while those in Dundee had the fastest rise in temporary billings.
However, the availability of staff to fill these positions fell by the greatest extent in Dundee and Aberdeen.
The Bank of Scotland’s employment barometer a measurement of how Scotland’s jobs market is performing rose to 54.7, its third consecutive monthly increase.