New job salaries are up by 5 per cent

job-seekers-up-185 Demand from UK employers for new workers rose steadily upwards in February. The number of new job opportunities increased by one per cent compared to January, with average salaries up by five per cent.

However active job-seekers have flooded back into the job market in 2010 at a much faster rate than new jobs, as returning consumer confidence has released pent-up demand. The number of applications per job averaged 19 in February, which was 50 per cent higher than last year according to the report.

Each month the Reed Job Index tracks changes in the number of new job opportunities on offer compared to the previous month and against a baseline of 100 set in December last year. The Reed Job Index is based on data from the UK’s largest job board reed.co.uk, which every day has over 90,000 job opportunities from 8,000 recruiters across 37 career sectors throughout the UK.

The figure was 105 in February, which was a 1 point increase compared to January and 5 points above December last year, when the Index baseline was first set at 100.

Employer demand rose most steeply for graduates and HR professionals, as well as across the private and not-for-profit sectors in areas such as Accountancy, Financial Services, IT, Charity and Voluntary, and Administrator staff.

In contrast the Public Sector appeared to be feeling the impact of budget threats. The Reed Public Sector Job Index plunged to 75, the lowest level of any sector, and demand for new staff was also down in associated areas such as Social Care and Education.

Salaries for new job opportunities rose by 5 per cent

Salaries for new job opportunities rose five per cent on average, with growth led by London’s robust six per cent increase, giving a national average salary for new permanent online job opportunities of £34,215.

Yet salary growth remains patchy outside the capital. Regions like East Midlands, North East England, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humberside experienced a 2 per cent drop in salaries for new opportunities, while in Wales the fall was as great as 8 per cent.

Job-seeker numbers have risen at a much faster rate than the rise in new jobs, increasing competition for each job to record levels as a result. On average every new job opportunity received 19 applications in February, up one from January and 50 per cent above the average of 13 applications per job experienced last September.

Martin Warnes, Managing Director said, “Employer demand is slowly but steadily returning to the jobs marketplace, as the number of new job opportunities on offer continue to rise. Salaries for new positions have started to increase for the first time since the recession began, especially in London.”

10 Mar 2010

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