Advert numbers high but volatile amid economic and political uncertainty

The number of active job adverts across the UK has remained relatively stable since mid-August.

In the week of October 17-23, there were 1.4 million active job adverts, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s and Lightcast latest Labour Market Tracker.

There has been a fall in the number of new postings in the week of 17-23 October, with 154,000 new job adverts posted – 3.4 per cent lower than a month earlier.

The previous week saw strong demand with 217,000 new postings, suggesting that demand, while volatile, remains at a high level overall.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: “After a lull over the summer and during the period of national mourning for Her Majesty the Queen we saw a recovery in hiring in late September.

“This continued through most of October, with some slowing in the most recent week.

“Overall, we are still seeing strong demand.

“There are some signs of greater volatility driven by economic and political uncertainty.

“But these cyclical trends are being offset by a substantial labour shortage that means firms still need to hire, even when growth has slowed.

“On November 17, the Chancellor has a chance to set out plans for growth which underpin investment by businesses in improving productivity, from skills to employment support to technology.

“This should include reforming the failed apprenticeship levy to deliver skills where they are needed, better thinking on transport and childcare to support people returning to work, and an immigration system that flexes to meet our economy’s needs.”

Occupations with notable increases in job adverts include childminders (+3.3 per cent), school secretaries (+1.9 pet cent), and dental practitioners (+1.3 per cent).

On the other hand, pharmacy assistants (-17 per cent) saw the biggest weekly decline in active job adverts.

Bar staff (-16.4 per cent) and waiters and waitresses (-12.8 per cent) also saw a significant decline in active postings.

The North West saw growth in job postings in the week of October 17-23, with three of the only four hiring hotspots with positive growth – Blackpool (+9.3%), Lancaster and Wyre (+2.1%), and East Cumbria (+0.2%).

At the other end of the scale, seven out of the bottom 10 local areas for growth in active job postings were in Northern Ireland.

Of those, Causeway Coast and Glens (-26.1 per cent), Newry, Mourne and Down (-19.2 per cent), Derry City and Strabane (-19.2 per cent), and Mid and East Antrim (-19 per cent) saw the biggest falls.

John Gray, vice president, UK operations at Lightcast, said: “The number of new job postings in the week beginning October 17 was 70,000 fewer than the previous week, which may well be a reflection of the general volatility and uncertainty we are seeing in Westminster and in the economy.

At the same time, when we look at the total number of active job postings, the picture is much more stable, with the numbers having remained at around 1.5million since the middle of August.

“Putting these two datapoints together suggests that while employers may well be nervous about committing to new hires right now, they still have existing positions which they have not been able to fill, and which they are continuing to advertise for.

“This, combined with the lowest unemployment rate over the past 20 years suggests that, even in this time of volatility and instability, we are still seeing a very tight labour market.”

■ The Labour Market Tracker is produced by the REC in partnership with Lightcast, using their Job Postings Analytics data which is harvested from tens of thousands of job boards.

Data was harvested between October 17 and 23, 2022.