Advertised job vacancies in the UK fell by 17.41% in March 2024 on an annual basis, according to the latest UK Job Market Report by job search engine Adzuna.

Overall, the number of advertised job vacancies stood at 862,294, down 0.46% over the month. This fifth consecutive monthly decline comes as the number of people out of work recently rose to 4.2%, the highest recorded in six months. As a result, there are now 1.87 jobseekers per vacancy, up from 1.49 last year and the highest figures since August 2021. 

Jobs across PR, advertising & marketing were hit hardest, dropping by 11.09% in the past month, as companies are scaling back marketing spend. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of a prolonged housebuilding slump, trade & construction vacancies fell by 8.24%.

Over a third of sectors tracked by Adzuna saw an increase in vacancies in March 2024, compared to February 2024. In addition to the rises seen in travel (16.27%) and manufacturing (6.09%), maintenance roles and customer services positions rose by 4.65% and 3.01%, respectively.

Year-on-year, travel (14.77%) and teaching (0.83%) were the only two sectors to see vacancies increase annually in March. Meanwhile the steepest annual declines were across domestic help & cleaning (-46.13%) and trade & construction (-43.9%).

At the same time, average advertised salaries continue to rise, up 0.41% in March to £38,638, and up 2.95% annually. Adzuna said this is to be expected with wages often lagging behind labour market slack. However, there are early signs that wage growth is easing, as March’s annual growth isn’t as rapid as in February 2024 (3.01%).

With the overall rise in advertised salaries, most sectors also experienced monthly salary increases. Energy, oil & gas saw the largest monthly increase, 3.87%, as well as the largest annual increase, up 20.4%. Retail (2.5%) and social work (1.83%) also experienced monthly growth. 

The biggest fall in monthly salary was in travel, (-3.74%), likely due to an increase in the range of roles at different levels, Adzuna stated.

Year over year, almost all sectors experienced a rise in advertised salaries, with energy, oil & gas (20.4%), Social work (12.33%), and Manufacturing (9.3%) leading the way. IT was the only sector to experience an annual fall in advertised salaries (-6.16%). 

For the fourth month running, the East Midlands is the fastest growing region for annual salary increases, up 6.48% to £35,940, compared to last year’s £33,754. 

For job hunters, the best cities to look for roles are Cambridge, Guildford and Exeter, the same three cities as last month. Cambridge has 7,449 vacancies and around 0.33 jobseekers for every role. 

On the other hand, Bradford continues to be the most difficult city to find work, with 20,180 jobseekers competing for 2,624 jobs, which means there are around 7.69 jobseekers per role.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said, “This new data continues to paint a difficult picture for job hunters in 2024. Vacancies have fallen again in March, unemployment is up and competition for open roles is intensifying across most sectors.”

Tony Wilson, director at the Institute for Employment Studies, said, “On the face of it, lower vacancies and higher unemployment points to a bit more ‘slack’ in the labour market than we have been used to in the last few years.”

“However, it’s worth noting that underneath the headlines, unemployment is being pushed up by more people who have been out of work for a year or longer, many of whom will need more and better support to get back into work. And while vacancies are continuing to drift down, there’s still well over 800,000 unfilled jobs in the economy, which is holding back economic growth and living standards,” Wilson said.

“So it remains the case that we need to do a lot more to boost labour supply, by reaching and helping people out of work who want a job, and not just rely on higher interest rates to dampen demand,” Wilson added.