According to Adzuna’s UK Employment Market Report  for Feb 2013, there is a mixed picture for the UK
labour market with vacancies up, but salaries down…

Here’s all the vital key points below for your convenience as per Adzuna’s full report:

The Adzuna Jobs Index reveals clear signs of improvement in the labour market this month, despite the struggling
economy and Britain losing its AAA credit rating. There are currently 491,298 live vacancies in UK, up 4% over 6
months. The ONS is also reporting Job Seekers Allowance claimants falling to 1.54m, a drop of 12,500 month on
month. The swell in vacancies and the continued decline in claimant numbers has resulted in 3.22 job seekers per
vacancy across Britain. While these numbers create the beginnings of a positive picture, the rate at which salaries are
declining across the country should be a concern.

Adzuna Co-Founder Andrew Hunter says “It’s been a fairly positive start to the year, with solid vacancy figures
showing the labour market is relatively robust, despite the looming threat of a triple-dip recession. While
encouraging, it’s far too early to pop the champagne corks. Many parts of the UK such as East Midlands and
Yorkshire remain in crisis with job stock numbers dwindling and average wages decreasing. Youth unemployment
continues to be the greatest issue facing the British job market today. There are still 974,000 16 to 24 year olds
unemployed in Britain and 17 applicants for every entry level vacancy. Our data suggests steady improvement in the
number of jobs in the UK in Q1, but continued stagnation of salaries.”

Where are all the jobs
As the job market swells with fresh vacancies, competition for jobs has fallen by 3% this February. While southern
cities dominate the hotspot list, Aberdeen and Manchester are real pockets of opportunity north of the border.
Jobseekers should head to Aberdeen, Cambridge and Guildford where there are more vacancies than unemployed.
Hull is the hardest city in the UK to find a job with 51 applicants chasing every vacancy. Edinburgh and Cardiff may
not have made the top 10 list, but competition for jobs has decreased by up to 25% in the past 6 months, while
Slough, London and Brighton have all worsened.

Pay Breakdown
While average salaries have increased marginally in the month from January to February 2013, pay packets across the
UK are significantly lower than the highs of the summer of 2012 – this is primarily due to the rise of part time
workers in Britain. Wales & the North West of England are the worst paying regions in the UK with average
advertised salaries in February of £24,661 and £27,778 respectively. For the second month in a row, the Energy, Oil
& Gas industry is the top paying sector in Britain, with average wages sitting at £47,232. Jobseekers looking for a
pay rise should look to head to London and the South East of England where wages are consistently higher than the
national average.

Adzuna.co.uk is a search engine for classified ads used by millions of people each month. The site aims to makes it
easier to find the right job for you. We search thousands of websites so you don’t have to and bring together millions
of ads so you can find them all in one place. Adzuna’s data powers the Number 10 Dashboard, used by the Prime
Minister and senior officials to keep track of economic growth on a daily basis.

For media enquiries, please contact Flora Lowther 

Email: flora@adzuna.com