Private sector staffing levels hit record levels in June, new research suggests.

The latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Report, published by Lloyds Bank commercial, said companies stepped up hiring in response to sharply rising new business inflows.

Staffing levels expanded at the fastest rate since the start of the survey in 1997.

It also suggested that activity growth was marked despite easing since May and rates of input and output price inflation quickened but remained subdued overall.

The Lloyds Bank West Midlands Business Activity Index, which measures the combined output of the region's manufacturing and service sectors, posted 57.6 in June.

Although down from May's three-month high of 60.2, the latest reading was nevertheless indicative of a marked rate of expansion in private sector business activity, the report said.

Incoming new business at West Midlands private sector firms rose at a strong and accelerated rate in June.

Growth was at a four-month high and above the UK average and anecdotal evidence suggested that a general improvement in market demand allied with stronger client confidence had underpinned the latest expansion of new orders.

Mark Cadwallader, area director of SME banking in the Midlands with Lloyds Bank commercial, said: "Record job creation in the West Midlands during June testifies to the strong level of optimism held by businesses in the region.

"Companies were encouraged to add staff by one of the strongest increases in new business growth in the survey's history.

"This indicates a clear feeling that this is a sustainable upturn, which has put firms into expansion mode to capitalise on improved demand."

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