UK labour market cools further, online jobs data shows

VACANCIES for jobs in Britain continued to fall in December and the pace of increases in advertised salaries slowed, according to a survey on Monday that added to signs of a cooling labour market.

Online jobs portal Adzuna said vacancies dropped from 745,448 in November to 716,791 last month, a 15 per cent reduction compared with a year previously and marking the weakest full year since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

It was the sixth consecutive month of falls.

Overall, the survey chimed with other data that point to a deteriorating jobs market, despite tentative signs of an upturn in economic activity from businesses and consumers.

“Competition for roles intensified and hiring slowed across many of the UK’s largest sectors as the usual year-end uplift failed to materialise,” Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said.

However he said there were early signs of recovery in graduate and entry-level posts, which might represent “green shoots” for this year.

Bank of England policymakers are watching the jobs market and wage growth carefully as they gauge inflation pressure in the economy, which could limit the scope for repeated interest rate cuts this year.

Adzuna’s survey showed the average advertised salary was 6.8 per cent higher than a year ago, following a 7.7 per cent rise in November.

A separate survey from the Confederation of British Industry also showed some improvement in business expectations across the economy, although they remained fairly downbeat overall.

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The CBI’s growth indicator for the next three months rose to -20 from -30 in December. Its gauge for activity in the past three months was little changed, remaining deeply negative.

“While there are tentative signs of stabilisation and resilience in some specific areas, the big picture remains similar to much of last year: businesses remain cautious, households are downtrading and confidence is still fragile,” said Alpesh Paleja, deputy chief economist at the CBI. REUTERS