'Record growth' in job vacancies

The jobs market showed record growth last month, with every region of the UK showing an increase in vacancies, according to a new report.

Employment group Reed said there was a 12% rise in February in posts advertised on its jobs website, which includes jobs from other recruiters.

The strongest growth was in the West Midlands, followed by North East England and the East Midlands, said Reed.

The findings also revealed that average salaries fell by 2.5% over the past year.

Martin Warnes, managing director of reed.co.uk, said the findings showed "robust and continued growth" in the employment market, adding: "The vast majority of sectors and regions are consistently offering more opportunities and we enter the busy Spring recruitment period with some optimism.

"Notably, though salaries grew slightly over the past month, our latest figures confirm remuneration is falling in real terms, so whilst the recovery in the jobs market continues to give solid grounds for optimism, the situation for many families across the UK remains challenging."

The average number of vacancies on reed.co.uk, live at any one time during February, was over 143,000.