UK job adverts see modest growth in May as labour market shows resilience – REC

There were 726,084 new job adverts in May 2025, a 0.3% increase on April, according to the latest Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast Labour Market Tracker. 

The number of active job postings was 1,440,792, down 1.8% as older adverts expired.

Scotland and the South West saw the biggest increase in total job postings, up 9.2% and 4.7% respectively.

Neil Carberry, CEO at REC, said: “This month’s postings data reflects both anecdote from recruiters and the core ONS workforce jobs survey – that the labour market is more stuck than going backwards. 

“Despite the headwinds of tax rises and lower growth there seems to be some resilience. After a long jobs market slowdown, a second month of weak growth in new postings is a sign more of hope than concern.

“While the global growth picture is weaker than anyone would like, the UK is relatively well-positioned to take advantage of what opportunities there are.”

Carberry added: “We are past the interest rate peak, the UK looks good value by comparison to the US, has banked progress on trade deals and has a stable legal and political picture for the next few years.  

“With interest rates staying steady and a possibility of reductions later this year, the challenge now is to build business confidence to invest.