Vacancies fell -1.24% month-on-month in July and rose only +0.31% year-on-year, marking the fifth consecutive month of positive annual growth after 30 months of declines. Total advertised vacancies stood at 864,705, +4.37% compared to six months earlier. Inflation rose to 3.8% and the National Minimum Wage increased in April, while average advertised salaries reached £42,264, up +8.75% year-on-year but down -0.31% month-on-month. Unemployment remained at 4.7% and jobseekers per vacancy rose to 1.98. Advertised contract roles surged +22% and permanent openings fell -9%, with notable shifts across Accounting & Finance, Marketing and Legal. Average time to fill shortened to 36.3 days and salary transparency improved to 45.02% of ads.
After vacancies saw their strong annual growth for three years in June, the pendulum swung back in July with roles falling -1.24% month-on-month and a mere uptick of +0.31% year-on-year, according to the latest UK Job Market Report by job matching platform Adzuna. Nevertheless, July marks the fifth consecutive month of positive year-on-year growth, coming after 30 months of declines that lasted till this February.
As inflation rises by more than expected to 3.8%, compounded by the National Minimum Wage increase in April, average advertised salaries continued their annual climb in July, reaching £42,264 - up +8.75% year-on-year but the momentum has softened slightly from the rapid growth recorded before June 2025. Meanwhile, month-on-month, July recorded another marginal drop of -0.31%.
Looking closer, many corporate sectors have been increasingly hiring contract workers while reducing permanent headcount. For example, Accounting & Finance contract jobs rose by +22.1%, while permanent roles dropped -7.3%. Similarly, contract jobs in Marketing were up +19.4% while permanent roles fell -6.9%. In Legal, while there has been +9.9% increase in advertised permanent vacancies, advertised contract jobs were growing at a much faster rate at +35.9%.
Collection
[
|
...
]