January sees job application and salary increase, research shows

Job applications and salaries were up last month, with an increase of 55 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, according to data from CV-Library.

The research also showed a significant increase in job growth, with the number of jobs rising by 38 per cent month-on-month and 5.1 per cent year-on-year.

Increase

The data revealed the cities that saw the biggest increase in job applications and the number of jobs in January, with several key cities seeing higher-than-average growth.

Birmingham saw the highest growth in jobs last month, with an increase of 50.4 per cent. This was followed by Manchester, Leeds and Brighton, which saw an increase of 47.7 per cent, 47.5 per cent and 45.3 per cent respectively.

Bristol experienced the highest rise in job applications, with the number of applications up by 70.9 per cent, followed by Birmingham at 68.9 per cent, Liverpool at 68.3 per cent and Manchester at 66 per cent.

January 2017 saw an increase of 5.6 per cent in salaries across the UK compared with January 2016, with Brighton, Liverpool and Hull all seeing higher-than-average growth. Amongst the sectors to see the highest salary growth were accounting, legal and manufacturing.

Strong

CV-Library Founder and Managing Director, Lee Biggins, commented: “It’s great to see that both business and candidate appetite is strong across many key UK cities and sectors.”

He said that January is a busy time for recruitment because this is when businesses get back into the swing of things, and many candidates search for a new opportunity to start the New Year.

He added that with the number of applications increasing, the competition amongst candidates is fierce; however, because business confidence is high, now is the best time for job hunters to take advantage of the wealth of opportunities that are available.