After vacancies saw their strong annual growth for three years in June, the pendulum swung back in July with roles falling -1.24% month-on-month and a mere uptick of +0.31% year-on-year, according to the latest UK Job Market Report by job matching platform Adzuna.
Nevertheless, July marks the fifth consecutive month of positive year-on-year growth, coming after 30 months of declines that lasted till this February.
Additionally, despite the minor fall, vacancies remain stronger (+4.37%) at 864,705 jobs compared to six months ago in January — typically a peak hiring month — showing resilience as the market moves into mid-year.
As inflation rises by more than expected to 3.8%, compounded by the National Minimum Wage increase in April, average advertised salaries continued their annual climb in July, reaching £42,264 – up +8.75% year-on-year but the momentum has softened slightly from the rapid growth recorded before June 2025. Meanwhile, month-on-month, July recorded another marginal drop of -0.31%.
Unemployment has remained at a four-year high of 4.7%, and as vacancies fell in July, competition has become slightly more fierce, with jobseeker per vacancy rising to 1.98.
Advertised contract jobs surged +22% while permanent job openings fell -9% since the National Minimum Wage rise in April. Looking closer, many corporate sectors have been increasingly hiring contract workers while reducing permanent headcount. For example, Accounting & Finance contract jobs rose by +22.1%, while permanent roles dropped -7.3%. Similarly, contract jobs in Marketing were up +19.4% while permanent roles fell -6.9%. In Legal, while there has been +9.9% increase in advertised permanent vacancies, advertised contract jobs were growing at a much faster rate at +35.9%.
The average time to fill a role shortened to 36.3 days from 36.4 days the month before. However, salary transparency improved, with 45.02% of job ads now including pay details, up from the 43.5% plateau seen across May and June.
Trade & Construction once again led all sectors with a +11.7% monthly rise, following June’s standout +16% growth. Retail also saw a further rise (+2%) on top of June’s already +7% increase. Creative & Design (+3.65%), HR & Recruitment (+3.41%) and Legal (+2.4%) were among the other sectors posting monthly gains – in positive signs for the wider professional services industries.
Elsewhere, other sectors either stagnated or fell. Healthcare & Nursing roles dropped for the third consecutive month, down -10.34% month-on-month in July and -8.87% year-on-year. Marketing roles, which had grown in May and June, fell -3.01% in July. Other notable monthly declines included Hospitality & Catering (-8.43%), Maintenance (-5.01%), Social Work (-4.66%), and Sales (-2.86%).
Salaries painted a similarly mixed picture. Marketing saw the strongest salary growth of any sector in July, with average pay rising to £42,651 – up +0.99% month-on-month. Customer Services roles saw salaries tentatively increase by +0.86% to £30,678, while Domestic Help & Cleaning rose +0.68% to £28,606. The steepest monthly declines were seen in Maintenance (-1.79%), Teaching (-1.54%) and Travel jobs (-0.9%).
Despite this, year-on-year salary growth remains strong in most areas. Logistics & Warehouse salaries grew +18.5% annually, followed by Teaching (+13.9%) and IT (+12%). In contrast, only two sectors saw annual declines in pay, where both Travel and Energy, Oil & Gas salaries fell again (-5.13% and -2.39% respectively) year-on-year.
For early-career workers, conditions remain challenging. Graduate jobs rose slightly in July, up +2.5% month-on-month to 15,397 jobs, but are still down -28% year-on-year. More broadly, entry-level roles, spanning graduate jobs, apprenticeships and junior listings, have fallen -4.5% monthly and -6.8% annually to 209,778 jobs in July, accounting for just 21.9% of all UK vacancies, the lowest share recorded in the past five years. Compared to Nov 22, entry-level vacancies dropped -33.5%.
Energy, Oil & Gas roles now take the longest to fill – at 41.3 days, followed by IT (40.3 days). That said, the timeframes for both were shorter than they were the month before, down from 42 days and 42.7 days, respectively.
The biggest slowdown was seen for Teaching roles, which at 39.4 days now take an extra 6.7 days to fill than they did in the previous month (32.7 days). By contrast, Graduate jobs are being filled 5.8 days faster than they were in the previous month, at 33.5 days.
Vacancies fell across all UK regions in July, marking a sharp contrast to the growth seen in June. The steepest month-on-month declines were recorded in Northern Ireland (-2.01%), Scotland (-1.92%), and the South West (-1.49%).
Wales (-11.8%) and Scotland (-9.41%) experienced the largest annual drops, while Northern Ireland recorded the strongest year-on-year growth in job openings, up +59.93% compared to July 2024. This was followed by London (+3.44%) and Eastern England (+1.66%).
In terms of salary growth, six regions now offer average advertised salaries above £40,000. In terms of annual growth, Northern Ireland once again led the pack with annual wage growth of +14.3% to £40,773 – its fifth consecutive month of double-digit gains. Scotland (+11.78%), Wales (+10.46%) and the South East (+10.05%) also saw strong year-on-year pay increases, although London remains the highest-paying region, with average salaries of £48,410.
Job competition is highest in the North East, where there are 3.3 jobseekers per vacancy. This is followed by Northern Ireland (3.2) and the West Midlands (3.1).
At the other end of the spectrum, the South West continues to offer the least competition, with just 1.29 jobseekers per vacancy, followed closely by the South East (1.43) and Eastern England (1.63).
Healthcare Assistant topped Adzuna’s Trending Jobs list in July, climbing from fourth place in June to become the most-viewed ad by jobseekers. It overtook Healthcare Support Worker, which slipped to second after holding the top spot for six consecutive months.
Warehouse Worker returned to third place, as demand for entry-level and frontline roles continues to drive interest. Social Care Worker, which has been consistently in the top five throughout 2025, dropped to fourth, while Retail Sales Adviser – which hasn’t appeared in the top 10 since April – made a re-appearance in fifth. This ranking is based on the Interest Quotient, a metric that tracks how often job postings are viewed relative to other occupations. A higher quotient reflects a stronger interest among jobseekers.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Cleaner, Project Manager, Sales Assistant, and Assistant all featured. As did Barista, which entered the rankings for the first time ever. Notably, Software Developer, Receptionist, Administrator, and Labourer, all of which featured in previous months, dropped out of the July leaderboard.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of job matching platform Adzuna, said, “After a hopeful uptick in June, July saw the pendulum swing back with vacancies falling again.
“While salary growth remains one of the few consistent positives – continuing to outpace inflation – hiring appetite is clearly uneven.
“The ongoing strength in sectors like construction is in stark contrast to another consecutive monthly drop in healthcare roles – traditionally one of the most stable sectors. This speaks to a market still finding its footing. Until we see greater stability across the board, it’s likely this stop-start pattern will continue.”
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