Nov 23 (Reuters) - British recruiting firm SThree Plc on Monday projected annual profit to be slightly above market expectations on improved hiring in the United States and Germany, with a high demand for professionals in life sciences and technology.

The company said it observed the overseas improvement through October and early November, sending shares up 2.8% in early trading.

Most global recruiters have been hit by a hiring slowdown due to COVID-19 lockdowns imposed by many governments across the world, and SThree has been among the first to flag an upturn to its business.

SThree, which operates in 16 countries, said in September its underlying sequential performance was improving since the first half of the year, even as it reported lower net fees for the third quarter. (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)