Job availability is a six-year high for 71 per cent of the UK, research finds

Job availability is at a six-year high for 71 per cent of the UK, new research has revealed.

The number of vacancies is at its highest amount since 2017 in more seven out of 10 local authority areas across the country.

The study, by A-Plan Insurance, analysed ONS data which compared job advert data in January of each year between 2017 and 2022.

The study found that 234 out of 331 local authorities have a higher number of vacancies in 2022 than in any of the five previous years.

On average across the country, the number of job adverts has risen 88 per cent since 2021.

Westminster, London has seen the largest increase in job adverts – in comparison to 2021, the London borough has seen a 1,036 per cent increase.

According to Indeed.com, there are 163,381 job adverts in the area.

Placing second is Kensington and Chelsea which has seen a 321 per cent increase in job adverts compared to 2021.

This area has 166,806 live job adverts on Indeed.

Redbridge ranks as the area with the third-highest increase in job adverts since 2021, at an increase of 265 per cent with 154,771 jobs currently available.

Coming in fourth is Malvern Hills with a 250 per cent climb in job adverts compared to 2021 and 17,151 currently on Indeed.com.

In fifth place is Lewes which sees a 226 per cent increase in job adverts posted in 2022 in comparison to 2021, with 19,846 jobs currently advertised online.

Broxtowe places sixth with a rise of 209 per cent in 2022, while South Gloucestershire has seen the seventhlargest increase of 208 per cent.

Barking and Dagenham, and Blaby place joint eighth with an uptick in job adverts of 205 per cent.

Coming in ninth is Wandsworth with a 198 per cent increase in job adverts.

North Devon ranks as having the tenth highest increase of job adverts since 2021 at 192 per cent.

In 2022, this area saw a 196 per cent increase in job adverts from the previous year.

At the other end of the scale, the area seeing the lowest increase in job adverts is Hartlepool where job adverts have in fact decreased 18 per cent from last year.

The second-lowest is in Mid Suffolk, which has seen a decrease of 1 per cent.

Hounslow has the third-lowest increase of a mere 2 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021.

Isle of Wight ranks as having the fourth lowest rise in job adverts in 2022 with an increase of 9 per cent.

Staffordshire Moorlands has the fifth-lowest with jump of 11 per cent since 2021.

Placing as the sixth lowest is East Lothian, which has seen a 12 per cent increase in job adverts.

The area with the seventh-lowest increase in job adverts is Lincoln with a 17 per cent difference compared to

2021.

In eighth place is West Oxfordshire which has seen a 19 per cent increase in job adverts when comparing 2022 to 2021.

Ranking as the ninth-lowest increase in job adverts is South Norfolk with a 22 per cent increase.

The tenth lowest increase in job adverts is Blaenau Gwent with a 23 per cent increase in job adverts since 2021.

A spokesperson for A-Plan Insurance said: “After the height of the pandemic, areas started to rebuild and this may explain why we are seeing a large spike in some areas of the UK in job adverts this year. Over the past year, there has been a large shift to remote working, which may be something people are seeking out more and more. As concerns rise about the cost of living crisis and inflation, it is at least encouraging to see that there is plenty of work available for those who are searching for a job.”