Job market swings in workers’ favour as vacancy numbers soar
The number of job opportunities grew strongly in February, new figures show.
Professional recruiters had 21 per cent more vacancies in February than a year ago, according to data released today by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies.
Permanent vacancies across engineering, IT, and finance and accounting rose by 25, 27 and 12 per cent respectively.
Figures for the wider economy released today by Adzuna, a job search website, shows the level of vacancies in February reached 992,465 – a post-recession high. Labour market conditions are turning in the workers’ favour, with 0.86 applicants per vacancy in February, down from 1.55 in the same month last year.
The firm forecasts a drop in the unemployment rate to 5.1 per cent by June, down from 5.7 per cent in January. “For the first time in a long while, British workers are having their cake and eating it, too. Job competition is down, inflation has fallen, and advertised wages are rising,” said Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter.