Job vacancies in Britain have fallen to their lowest level in five years as businesses freeze graduate recruitment amid rising national insurance and other labour costs.
Figures released this morning show the number of advertised roles dropped to under 700,000 in January, down 16 per cent year on year, the first time since January 2021 that vacancies have slipped below that level, meaning numbers being hired now only marginally above pandemic-era lows.
Applications per vacancy are now 2.7 times higher than two years ago
Meanwhile Vacancies for university leavers down 45 per cent in January from previous year
Just over one million students graduated in the 2024-25 academic year but currently fewer than 10,000 graduate jobs on offer across the country
