Job vacancies increased by an impressive 14.1% last month, suggesting that business confidence is remaining high across the UK. This is according to the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, which compared its data from March 2017 with February 2017.
The study analysed job market activity across the UK, revealing that job applications rose by a steady 4.6% during this period, and while this figure is not quite keeping pace with advertised vacancies, it’s positive to see that candidate appetite still remains.
Furthermore, for those eager candidates that are looking for work this spring, the data from CV-Library reveals the top 10 locations where job numbers are rapidly rising:
- Liverpool (19.9%)
- Brighton (18.8%)
- Birmingham (14.8%)
- Sheffield (13.7%)
- Leeds (13%)
- Manchester (12.8%)
- Bristol (12.5%)
- London (12%)
- Glasgow (11.2%)
- Cardiff (11%)
The statistics also identified the key sectors across the UK which experienced strong job growth in March, including: charity (35.4%), catering (31.8%), hospitality (31.4%), automotive (20.9%) and education (19.9%).
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, comments: “It’s great to see that business confidence is keeping strong, especially in some of the UK’s key cities such as Liverpool, Brighton and Birmingham. Furthermore, the promising rise in job numbers is particularly good news for candidates looking for new opportunities. However, applications are not keeping pace with vacancies, and while it’s still positive to see that candidates are remaining active, we hope this number will pick back up in the months to come.”
Furthermore, salaries across the UK saw a slight increase of 1.6% last month and while this is not keeping up with the national rate of inflation (2.3%), it suggests that business are trying to offer fairer salaries in order to attract talented recruits. In fact, some of the UK’s key cities did witness above-average pay hikes year-on-year, including Portsmouth (up 11.5%), Edinburgh (up 6.8%) and Hull (up 5.3%).
Biggins concludes: “It’s concerning that the average salary in the UK is not keeping pace with the national rate of inflation, but this small increase suggests that businesses across the nation are recognising the need to offer up higher salaries. With many cities and industries experiencing positive growth last month, it’s clear that the job market is staying strong, and this is particularly important now Brexit negotiations are officially underway. For businesses, offering higher salaries could be the edge they need to get ahead of their competitors and secure talented recruits.
Learn more about CV-Library at www.cv-library.co.uk
