According to the latest UK job market report from Adzuna.co.uk average advertised salaries in the UK have slipped £1,800 in the last 12 months, as the labour market re-sets itself in the wake of government public sector cuts and the return of private sector business growth.

Adzuna’s data also goes on to highlight the top 10 places and worst 10 places to find a job in the UK, with the data revealing some interesting regional differences and career prospects for job seekers.

Despite widespread optimism around the labour market recovery from the UK government, Salaries have stagnated most in areas such as London, where cuts in the public sector have been replaced by significant growth in lower paid, private sector positions.

In more positive news, Adzuna’s data reveals positive vacancy growth trend, in line with the falling UK unemployment rate. Horray!

Co-founder of Adzuna, Andrew Hunter explained: “Official indicators for the jobs market are resoundingly positive, but hidden beneath the headline statistics is a more complicated truth. UK salaries overall are still stagnating, with only a select few industries showing pay growth and the market rebalancing itself after the public/private sector shake-up.”

Salaries fell year-on-year in many regions of the UK in March, with the exception of Wales (+14%) and the North West (+1.0%). The greatest fall was in London, where advertised salaries dropped 6.8% to £39,112 – equivalent to a drop of £2,854 year-on-year.

In terms of best and worst cities for finding a job, Tech hub Cambridge topped the list, with six vacancies to every job seeker. But there are still many regions in which competition for vacancies remains extremely heated. North West city Salford was the worst city in the UK to find a job, with over 30 job seekers per advertised vacancy. The situation was only slightly better in The Wirral, where there were over 20 job seekers fighting for each available vacancy in March.

Check out the handy graphic provided by Adzuna that does a great job in highlighting the areas with the best and worst job chances…