THE jobs market in the region has experienced a 12 per cent rise in vacancies year-on-year.

The figure – from the Q2 2014 totaljobs.com barometer, which analyses the behaviour of 5.9 million British jobseekers and 5,000 recruiters – is higher than the national rise of nine per cent in job vacancies across the UK.

The recovering property market has driven a significant rise in construction jobs as vacancies rose by a staggering 24 per cent regionally in the last twelve months. This good news comes hot on the heels of last week’s Markit/CIPS survey, which found construction hiring to be at its fastest rate since 1997.

The totaljobs.com barometer also showed that the transport and logistics sector enjoyed a 12 per cent increase in vacancies over the last quarter alone in the North East. Meanwhile, engineering, manufacturing and utilities sectors enjoyed a three per cent increase in the last quarter, but experienced a slight decline of one per cent year-on-year.

The best performing region in the UK was East Midlands with a 17 per cent rise in the number of job postings, followed closely by Yorkshire with a 16 per cent rise in job vacancies. Other big winners included jobseekers in the North West, East Anglia, and Wales which saw job opportunities jump 12 per cent year-on-year.

The totaljobs.com barometer provides one of the most comprehensive representations of supply and demand in the UK job market – importantly reporting three months ahead of official ONS statistics. Today’s figures show how UK recruitment has fared in the second quarter of 2014, and outlines job trends across 33 sectors and each UK region.

Graduate and traineeship roles in the region have increased nine per cent year-on-year, which will be a relief for many local young people. This is slightly below the national figure, which saw a 13 per cent rise in vacancies, and follows last week’s announcement of the EU Youth Guarantee to secure under 25s a job offer within four months.

John Salt, director of totaljobs.com, says: “Overall, the region continues on its road to recovery, with the local labour market posting vacancies above the national rate, and unemployment figures continuing to drop. The £290 million Growth Deals secured this week for the North East is expected to create 4,000 new jobs through the delivery of both private and public sector initiatives, which is fantastic news for the region.”

However, not every sector in the region recovered over the past year; retail roles dropped by 14 per cent, whilst administration, PA and secretarial roles posted a five per cent decline. This drop has prompted a 14 per cent rise in the number of applications per job for admin-based roles, demonstrating that not all sectors are performing well.

“While not all sectors nationwide or across the North East have enjoyed a boost in jobs, today’s figures show that the overall national labour market is very positive. I am sure this be very welcome news for the Government as the UK continues its road to recovery ahead of next year’s General Election.”

More analysis and commentary can be found on the totaljobs.com blog.