Research for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG also showed hiring of temporary staff rose at its sharpest rate since May 2007.
The permanent placements index – a measure of how many firms are hiring extra workers compared to the previous month – rose to 62.7 in February from an upwardly revised 58.2 in January. Anything above 50 represents growth.
The REC said recruitment has become a “two-tier” market with the private sector growing as public spending declines.
“The UK now has a two-speed labour market,” said REC Chief Executive Kevin Green. “The private sector continues to hire in increasing numbers while the public sector is shedding jobs.”
He said employers in computing, engineering and construction and executive/professional saw the fastest rate of hiring.
“This might be an indication that a private sector-led recovery is indeed under way,” said Bernard Brown, head of business services at KPMG.
REC forecasts that unemployment will rise for most of this year before slowly starting to fall at the end of the year and into 2012.