• There were around 172,000 new job postings in the last week of March – 25% lower than the previous week and the lowest since mid-January
• But there were still 1.83 million active job adverts in the UK last week
• High demand for hairdressers and barbers, security occupations, bar staff
• Notable increases in adverts for other skilled occupations like veterinarians and crane drivers
• Five out of the UK’s top ten hiring hotspots were in Scotland last week, three in Northern Ireland
• Local areas with the biggest decreases in job adverts were Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames, Nottingham, and Cambridgeshire

Growth in the number of job adverts across the UK has stabilised in recent weeks, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s latest Labour Market Tracker. There were around 1.83 million active job adverts in the UK in the week of 21-27 March. This total has remained relatively stable since early March

However, last week there was a significant drop in the number of new job adverts, with roughly 172,000 new postings in the UK. This was 25% lower than the previous week and the lowest of any week since mid-January.