There are early signs of stablisation in the UK job market, according to a new report by Adzuna, a UK-based search engine for jobs. UK job vacancies fell by just 0.14% in February compared to January for a total of 866,242 vacancies. The decrease was smaller than in recent months.

“This marks the first indication of a steadying jobs market, after several recent months of sharp declines, including a -6.64% fall in vacancies between December and January, and a -6.95% fall between November and December,” according to Adzuna.

Still, vacancies were down 15.11% in February compared to this same time last year. In addition, there were 1.86 job seekers per vacancy, the highest this figure has been since August 2021.

Adzuna also found that the average advertised UK salary rose 0.81% in February to £38,478.

“The UK jobs market may have become tighter over the past few months following a decline in advertised vacancies but this has only pushed advertised average salaries to the highest levels we’ve ever seen at Adzuna,” co-founder Andrew Hunter said. “There may not be an abundance of roles at the moment, but companies that continue to hire and grow are prepared to invest in new team members and secure skilled, experienced staff.”

Salary transparency also appeared to have turned a corner, according to Adzuna, with 50.7% of roles advertised on Adzuna featuring a salary in February. That compares to 49.3% that didn’t include a salary and marks the highest level of salary transparency in the UK since May 2023.

Retail was the sector with the highest advertised salary increase month over month, up 2.63% in February to an average of £29,834. Adzuna noted several retailers pledged to raise wages, including M&S, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.

In terms of geography, the East Midlands posted the highest average advertised salary increase with salaries rising 6.45% to £35,516.

Cambridge was the best city for job seekers with 0.33 competing for available roles. Bradford continues to be one of the hardest to find a job with 7.26 job seekers per 2,643 vacancies.