Recent research has analysed the behaviour of 4.8 million jobseekers and 5,000 recruiters each month, reveals that competition for jobs has risen to 18 applications per job, following a drop earlier in 2012. This is despite an overall increase in the number of jobs available across the country. Nationally, the number of available jobs rose by 5% year-on-year and 4% over the quarter.

Alarmingly, London, which has proved so resilient during the worst of the recession, has seen a dramatic fall in the number of jobs, with 7% fewer compared to the same quarter last year. In particular, London has been particularly hit by a fall in the number of jobs in the financial sector, which has decreased nationally by 9% year-on year. Catering and hospitality, jobs for which are disproportionately based in London, have also been hit, with 11% fewer jobs compared to the third quarter in 2011, indicating that despite the Olympic effect¹, London vacancies have declined, suggesting that the long-term employment benefits of the Games have not been realised.

The Totaljobs Barometer provides one of the most comprehensive representations of supply and demand in the UK job market ­ importantly reporting three months ahead of official ONS statistics for which it stands up as a proven forecast. Today¹s figures show how UK recruitment has fared in the first quarter of 2012.

Credit: onrec.com