Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 26, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 26, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleUK job vacancies dropped in December, with salaries rising more slowly. Adzuna and CBI surveys indicate a cooling labour market amid cautious business outlook.
Jan 26 (Reuters) - Vacancies for jobs in Britain continued to fall in December and the pace of increases in advertised salaries slowed, according to a survey on Monday that added to signs of a cooling labour market.
Online jobs portal Adzuna said vacancies dropped from 745,448 in November to 716,791 last month, a 15% reduction compared with a year previously and marking the weakest full year since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
It was the sixth consecutive month of falls.
Overall the survey chimed with other data that point to a deteriorating jobs market, despite tentative signs of an upturn in economic activity from businesses and consumers.
"Competition for roles intensified and hiring slowed across many of the UK's largest sectors as the usual year-end uplift failed to materialise," Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said.
However he said there were early signs of recovery in graduate and entry-level posts, which might represent "green shoots" for this year.
Bank of England policymakers are watching the jobs market and wage growth carefully as they gauge inflation pressure in the economy, which could limit the scope for repeated interest rate cuts this year.
Adzuna's survey showed the average advertised salary was 6.8% higher than a year ago, following a 7.7% rise in November.
A separate survey from the Confederation of British Industry also showed some improvement in business expectations across the economy, although they remained fairly downbeat overall.
The CBI's growth indicator for the next three months rose to -20 from -30 in December. Its gauge for activity in the past three months was little changed, remaining deeply negative.
"While there are tentative signs of stabilisation and resilience in some specific areas, the big picture remains similar to much of last year: businesses remain cautious, households are downtrading and confidence is still fragile," said Alpesh Paleja, deputy chief economist at the CBI.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Suban Abdulla)
A job vacancy refers to an unfilled position in a company or organization that is available for hiring. It indicates the demand for labor in the job market.
The UK economy encompasses the economic activities and financial systems of the United Kingdom, including production, consumption, and trade.
Employment opportunities refer to available jobs or positions that individuals can apply for within various sectors of the economy.
The labor market is the supply and demand for labor, where employers seek to hire workers and individuals seek jobs.
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