The UK jobs market grew on an annual basis for a second consecutive month as more companies advertised seasonal roles.
However, the latest data from Adzuna showed some slowing in vacancy growth and average salary increases on a monthly basis, suggesting the jobs market is on delicate ground.
According to its latest data, vacancies in April rose on a year-on-year basis by 1.02% compared to the same month last year. However, vacancies contracted slightly month on month, dipping 0.95% to 862,876 compared to March.
The annual growth in roles was accompanied by significant growth in average advertised salaries, which hit a new record of £42,278.
Labour market
This showed an increase of 0.75% month on month, and 8.95% year on year – the strongest annual growth in salaries since June 2022, according to Adzuna.
Posts in healthcare, nursing and social work rose by 1.94% on an annual basis and 0.29% month on month, meaning this sector has now experienced double-digit growth in the past six months.
Healthcare vacancies rose to their highest since January 2024, which could be attributed to the government’s recent immigration announcements limiting overseas recruitment in the care sector.
The biggest monthly gains in vacancies were in logistics and warehouse (up 4.62%) and hospitality and catering (up 5.6%), now recruiting for the summer season.
Other sectors experiencing growth were property (up 2.32%), teaching (up 1.71%) and retail (up 1.38%).
The largest monthly fall in vacancies was in trade and construction, where the number of roles fell by more than 15%. However, this sector reported the strongest annual growth of all sectors, at 49.75%.
The average period required to fill job roles was 39.5 days, up from 35.3 days in March. The number of jobseekers per vacancy rose slightly to 2.02, up from 2.0 in March.
Graduate roles fell by a further 7.6% in April, marking a yearly decline of 22.8%. Sectors offering the most graduate vacancies included customer services, teaching, IT and healthcare.
In terms of wage growth, the highest increases were in teaching (up 2.74% month on month), followed by domestic help and cleaning (up 1.39%). Logistics and warehouse jobs showed the highest annual average salary increase, at 20.41%.
After two months of increases in the number of job adverts listing salary details, salary transparency dipped down to 47.89% from a recent high of 48.62%. This means more than half of ads (52.11%) now do not list the salary in job descriptions.
Regionally, Northern Ireland posted the strongest annual salary growth at 12.38%, pushing average salaries to £40,472. This makes it one of six UK regions where average salaries are now above £40,000.
London remains the highest-paying region at £48,635, followed by eastern England, at £40,853.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “After signs of recovery in March, April brought a reminder that this remains a delicate job market. Vacancies dipped and salary growth, while still strong on an annual basis, is starting to show signs of slowing.
“That said, the broader trends are still heading in the right direction. We’ve now seen two consecutive months of annual vacancy growth – something we hadn’t experienced in over 18 months – and advertised pay is up almost 9% compared to this time last year, continuing to outpace inflation.
“Demand remains particularly high in healthcare, logistics, and teaching, and the strength of these sectors is helping stabilise the market overall. The recovery is real and we’re seeing progress, just not at full speed yet.”
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