Job bulletin website Adzuna has released figures that show that job advertisements are at a post-recession peak.

Between September 2013 and September 2014, vacancies advertised in Britain increased by almost 28%, bringing the total number of advertised vacancies to 906,191.

It is thought that the imminent holiday festive season may be responsible for this recent surge in job adverts, with retailers and suppliers seeking to expand their workforce to meet market demand.

Advertised salaries have also peaked, growing by 2% annually and overtaking the rate of inflation (posted at 1.7% according to the Consumer Price Index). The average advertised salary in the UK is now £34,695.

Customer service jobs sat the highest salary growth, with manufacturing, trade, and construction following closely after.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said:

“The cautious green shoots of job market growth are now beginning to firmly take root as businesses revel in new-found economic confidence. The number of vacancies on offer is rapidly expanding, and UK vacancies crossed the 1m mark in the last few days, which bodes well for vacancy levels in October,” said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.

“At the same time unemployment has fallen to below 2m: its lowest level since 2008. That potent combination of factors is catalysing a recovery in salaries – as employers raise wages in order to attract the talent they need to respond to an uptick in business demand.

“Employers are also increasingly aware of the bounty of opportunities available to existing employees looking to move jobs, and are handing out pay rises to prevent talent falling through the cracks.”

There are some indications, though, that this job growth is slowing down, with advertised vacancies growing by only 0.1% in September 2014, compared with an increase of 3.7% in August.

Salary growth in 2014 is also at its lowest since May at 0.7%.

Andrew Hunter continued:

“Positive vacancy growth is also masking an underlying trend to part-time work. There are more opportunities on offer than a year ago, but more of these are part-time positions offered to satisfy the seasonal rush, with many companies taking on tens of thousands of extra staff to cater for Christmas demand.”

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Words: Peter Cribley