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Number of job vacancies rises by 5%, recruitment report shows

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People outside Job Centre Plus office at Whitechapel, London
People outside Job Centre Plus office at Whitechapel, London. Picture: Alamy

By Alice Padgett

Occupations with the biggest increase in job adverts in recent months include sales executives, exam invigilators and train drivers, new research suggests.

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Recruiters said jobs for actors, photographers and audio visual broadcasting equipment operators fell.

The biggest increase in job adverts were in the Western Isles' Na h-Eileanan Sair, Isle of Wight, West Essex, Buckinghamshire and Antrim and Newtownabbey; while there was a fall in areas including Gwynedd, Fermanagh and Omagh, Dumfries and Galloway, Causeway Coast and Glens and South West Wales, said the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

The total number of job vacancies in February was more than 1.5 million, a 5% increase from January, said the report.

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REC chief executive Neil Carberry said: "There were growing signs in February of firms seeking to add people at a faster rate.

"But this progress will be tested by uncertainty and a supply-chain squeeze arising from the conflict in the Gulf.

"Business and Government will need to work closely together in the coming weeks to manage these disruptions to deliver a better business environment in the UK this year, especially as anticipated interest rate falls are not now likely."