https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/latest

Main points

The estimated number of vacancies in December 2023 to February 2024 was 908,000, a decrease of 43,000 from September to November 2023.

Vacancy numbers fell on the quarter for the 20th consecutive period in December 2023 to February 2024, down by 4.5% from September to November 2023, with the estimated number of vacancies falling in 14 of the 18 industry sectors.

Total estimated vacancies in December 2023 to February 2024 were down by 224,000 from the level of a year previously, although they remained 107,000 above their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) January to March 2020 levels.

The number of unemployed people per vacancy in November 2023 to January 2024 was 1.5, up from 1.4 the previous quarter (August to October 2023), as the number of vacancies continue to fall.

The total workforce jobs estimate rose in December 2023 by 125,000 on the quarter to 36.9 million, with increases in both employee jobs and self-employment jobs.

The series of quarterly falls in vacancy numbers continued in December 2023 to February 2024, falling for the 20th consecutive period. This is the longest sequence of quarterly falls since the data series began in 2001, and has seen the total number of vacancies decline by an estimated 391,000 since April to June 2022.
The headline vacancy estimates are based on three-month averages, which naturally involve some time lag. Insights into trends in February 2024 are provided by two alternative data sources: single-month vacancy estimates Dataset X06 (see Strengths and limitations), and Adzuna Online job advert estimates (official statistics in development).