Advertised salaries appear to be on the rise for the first time since the financial crisis, according to the jobs search engine Adzuna.
The average advertised salary in July 2014 rose to £33,873 – a 0.9% advance on the previous year. The number of vacant jobs was up by more than a quarter to 872,629, according to the Adzuna report, which is based on online job vacancies collated from more than 300 sources.
There was also good news for jobseekers in parts of the country where the recovery has been weakest. All parts of the country apart from London saw a rise in salaries. Advertised salaries rose 19% in Wales, 7% in south-west England, 6% in north-east England and 5% in the West Midlands.
London recorded a 1% fall in average annual salaries, as a surge in low-paid hospitality jobs brought down the average.
The north-east benefited from the continuing resurgence of car making in the region. The number of manufacturing vacancies almost doubled, while average salaries rose 16% to £29,507.
Andrew Hunter of Adzuna said there was cause for optimism as people may be beginning to feel the economic recovery. “The UK job creation boom has become a double-edged sword, creating record highs in employment rates at the expense of stagnating wages. For once we can see good levels in both job creation and wage increases.”