Average salaries across the UK increased by 1.1% in December 2016, when compared to the previous month, according to statistics from the job-board, CV-Library.

The data showed that among the sectors, the legal sector showed the highest increase in pay year-on-year at 13%; followed by property, which was up 8.2%; manufacturing at 7.6%;, recruitment at 7.2%; and IT which was up at 5.4%.

Among the cities, Cardiff led in salary growth at an increase of 17%, followed by Manchester at 5.8%.

“It’s positive to witness increases in salaries across some of the UK’s major cities and sectors last month, with the likes of Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester seeing particularly strong growth,” said Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library. “The fact that pay has jumped so significantly in certain areas is a nice indication that businesses across the nation are continuing to work hard to attract the very best talent, despite December being a quieter month for hiring."

Findings reveal that job vacancies were down by 9% when compared to December 2015, with applications also dropping by 1%. CV-Library said that while this could be perceived negatively, it is not unusual for this time of year, and could explain why salaries increased last month, as businesses pushed hard to attract active candidates ahead of the New Year’s rush.