The jobs market has seen continued growth, with recovery being led by the construction and property sector, according to a new report.
The latest Reed Job Index, which is compiled using data from around 150,000 vacancies and over 10,000 employers advertised on reed.co.uk, showed that July 2013 is up 17% year on year, while job opportunities in the construction and property sector increased by 92% on July 2012.
Growth has been steady throughout 2013, with the July Job Index six points higher than the year to date average (155). Other sectors which showed substantial increases year on year were training (62%), education (51%) and leisure and tourism (51%).
For the second consecutive month Scotland had the greatest growth in new job opportunities year on year, up 35% on July 2012. This level of growth is closely followed by Yorkshire and Humber (29%) and the North West (22%).
Overall, the Job Index from reed.co.uk – the UK’s largest job site – now stands at 161, up from 138 at the beginning of the year.
Commenting on the latest figures, James Reed, chairman of reed.co.uk, says: “The jobs market is one of the first indicators of the health of the economy and it has shown continued growth during 2013. We are now seeing wider signs that the UK is on the road to recovery and these numbers underline that.
“Given recent statistics, which show an annual rise in property prices for all regions of the UK for the first time in over five years, it isn’t too surprising that jobs growth in the construction and property sector has been so significant. It will be interesting to see how these figures move during the course of the year, as the influence of Government support through schemes such as Help to Buy becomes clearer.”
James Reed concludes: “While there are signs of an economic recovery, we should be concerned that this growth has not yet translated into salary increases. Salaries have continued to decline – year on year they are down 1.5% – so household spending will be impacted. Once workers are more generally experiencing improvements in their standard of living, it will be a recovery worth celebrating.”
The Reed Job Index is compiled by reed.co.uk, through analysis of job vacancies from over 10,000 recruiters throughout the UK tracked against a baseline of 100 established in December 2009. It is the largest monthly measure of conditions and trends in employment in the UK. Reed.co.uk is the UK’s largest jobs board, receiving a total of over 120 million visits in the last 12 months and 24 million job applications.
