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Recruitment agencies in Scotland have reported the first drop in permanent placements for four months.

The "mild" fall last month came amid reports of candidate shortages and muted demand for staff, according to a regular jobs market survey.

This contrasted with the UK as a whole, which saw permanent appointments rise at their sharpest pace since late 2018.

Meanwhile, temp billings in Scotland fell at their steepest rate for more than a decade in February.

The drop was partly linked to new tax rules due to come into effect in April, which will change the way in which contractors in the private sector are taxed.

Temp billings also fell at the UK level in February, although the rate of decline was softer than that seen in Scotland, and only fractional.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's latest report on jobs also found a softening in the growth in demand for staff, while candidate availability deteriorated at a weaker pace.

Of all the monitored sectors, demand for permanent staff was most marked in IT and computing.

The report suggested that pay pressures across Scotland strengthened last month.

Salaries awarded to permanent new starters increased at the fastest rate for four months and sharply overall.

Nonetheless, the rate of inflation at the UK level outpaced that recorded in Scotland.

At the same time, average hourly pay rates rose at a quicker pace midway through the first quarter.

As has been the case in each month since March 2012, the availability of permanent candidates fell in February. The supply of temp candidates also fell.

In both cases, the supply of candidates in Scotland fell more quickly than across the UK as a whole.

Royal Bank of Scotland said the latest report indicated a softening of the Scottish labour market midway through the first quarter of the year.