Job opportunities across the country rose more sharply in February than in January, up 17 Index points month-on-month, while salaries are back to the level of 23 months ago.

The report, which examines trends from over 8,000 UK recruiters, gives a Reed Job Index reading of 140, the highest since the Index began. February’s Reed Job Index is six per cent up compared to the same month last year and 40 per cent above the level of December 2009 when the Index’s baseline was set at 100.

Eleven different job sectors from across all areas of the private sector reached their highest levels since the Index started in December 2009.  High-points were recorded in industrial sectors such as Engineering, Construction, and Scientific, and service sectors such as Accountancy Qualified, Purchasing and Recruitment.

Salaries for new jobs also rose in February, with the Reed Salary Index up two index points compared to January, to read 100, the highest since March 2010. Salary increases in areas such as Retail, Banking, Customer Services, Consultancy and Training are largely responsible for this growth.

Employer demand in all regions grew in February, boosting the index as a whole. The North West of England and Northern Ireland have shown the greatest month-on-month increases with a fifth more jobs on offer now compared with January, while new London jobs are up 12 index points (10 per cent) year on year.

Martin Warnes, Managing Director of reed.co.uk, comments on the Reed Job Index for February:

“A rise in new jobs to a two-year high is encouraging, especially as this growth has been spread across a wide range of employment sectors and in every UK region. Moreover, salaries have finally returned to the levels of late-2009 which may provide some relief to employees whose income has been squeezed in recent years.

“The jobs market does remain challenging however and before we can talk about a return to growth, we would want to see job creation strengthening over the coming months.”

Credit: onrec.com