By Suban Abdullah
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s starting salaries hit their highest level in two years in April, with the number of job vacancies also the highest in December. The most since, which points to a recovery in the UK economy and the labor market, according to job search site Adzuna.
Adzuna’s survey shows that published annual salaries have increased each month since October 2022 to an average of 598 ,658 pounds ($47,359) In April, the growth rate was 2.9% YoY. This is still slightly below the 37, 658 April poundage average 898, which was the highest level since Adzuna’s record began at 2022.
Published wage trends differ from those collected by the UK Office for National Statistics on average earnings for the entire workforce.
UK base wages rose 6.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, averaging 658 GBP for the week of March – equivalent to ,47 GBP year, record high in nominal value.
However, UK annual consumer price inflation has not kept pace, falling back to 8.7% in April.
The Bank of England, which raised interest rates to 4.5% in May and is expected to raise bank rates further, is keeping a close eye on inflationary pressures in the job market but said it expected wage growth to slow.
Employment Institute director Tony Wilson said Adzuna’s data likely reflected continued strong demand in the economy rather than chronic shortages and job vacancies.
“Combined with the fairly modest wage growth posted, it also suggests that some inflationary pressures in the labor market may be starting to ease,” Wilson said.
The overall online job advertisements climbed 0.18% to about 1.37 million posts in April, the highest since last December 2022. Previous ONS data showed the non-seasonally adjusted vacancies in April at 1.37 million, down from 1.
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunt said his data suggested the UK job market was recovering, but there was still some volatility.
“Clearly, the job market remains Volatile, but we’re encouraged by the steady growth we’re seeing.”
Adzuna’s measure of the average number of people applying for the same job has also climbed steadily.
($1=0.7923 lbs)
