UK advertised wages drop, job postings increase

In October, British advertised wages saw a six-month low, potentially easing inflationary pressures. In contrast, job vacancies increased for the first time since June, signaling a rebound in the job market, according to a recent survey.

Adzuna, a job search site, reported that the average advertised salary fell to £36,946 in October, a 0.4% decrease from September and a 1.9% drop since April.

Adzuna's co-founder Andrew Hunter suggests that while decreasing advertised wages might seem negative for job hunters, it indicates that inflation may be subsiding.

Moreover, the number of online job advertisements grew by 0.35% to over a million, the largest rise since June. This surge is attributed to seasonal hiring in retail and warehousing ahead of Christmas.

The Bank of England has paused interest rate hikes after 14 consecutive increases, monitoring the job market for inflation signals. Despite this, forecasts suggest sustained price increases.

Brexit and the pandemic have led to recruitment challenges as workers exited the job market, reducing the candidate pool.

Vacancies dipped to a two-year low of 957,000 for the past three months leading to October, and wage growth decelerated slightly compared to the previous quarter.

Adzuna observed a slight rise in job seeker numbers per vacancy and faster role filling, the quickest of the year.