Job vacancies fell by 12% this year in the UK amid uncertainty around the upcoming EU Referendum and the introduction of the new National Living Wage, according to a survey from jobs site Indeed.

In April there was a 9% decline compared to March, in job vacancies advertised across all sectors with the exception of the Hospitality sector, which showed a rise in job listings.

The report says that employers' reluctance to recruit is being driven by uncertainty over the EU referendum and the introduction of the national living wage last month.

"The introduction of the National Living Wage has already proved divisive, and our findings will fire the debate further,” Mariano Mamertino, economist at Indeed said. “While thousands of the UK's lowest paid workers received a welcome boost to their April pay packet, the benefits have inevitably been concentrated in regions with higher numbers of poorly paid jobs, like North East England, Northern Ireland and Wales.”

"Yet even by marginally eroding employers' appetite to hire more staff, the policy may have unwittingly made life somewhat harder for some jobseekers. Job vacancies in 12 of the 13 sectors tracked by Indeed fell in April, accelerating a trend that began in March following the announcement of the EU referendum.”

“The combination of business uncertainty about the potential impact of a Brexit, the slowdown of the economy amid global economic headwinds and a sudden increase in the wage bill for many firms has triggered a sharp cooling in the jobs market."

The EU Referendum is set to take place on 23 June 2016.