According to the latest Labour Market Tracker by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and Lightcast, the UK job market has shown signs of stabilisation. The number of active jobs postings remained the same as the previous month.
In February 2025 there were 1,550.191 active postings, which is a 0.1 per cent increase over January 2025. The number of new job postings was 681,898, which is a drop of 10.8 % from the previous month. The decline in hiring was expected as January is traditionally a month of increased hiring at the beginning of the year. February, however, is a smaller month with a holiday period.
In January 2025, had a higher increase than usual in job postings. The number of active listings increased by 7.2 percent when compared with December 2024. was the first to increase since June 20, 2024. February 2025 continued the trend of modest growth on the UK job market.
Scotland recorded the largest increase in job postings. West Dunbartonshire (24,7%), Argyll & Bute (23,5%) and East Lothian & Midlothian (20,1%) were the counties with the highest increases. Scotland had 10 of the top counties in terms of job postings. Merton, Kingston upon Thames, and Sutton (-6.8%), Mid Ulster (7.6%), and Central Bedfordshire (13.7 percent) experienced the largest declines.
Hiring Trends Across Key Sectors
The number of construction job openings grew by 4.7 percent between February 2025 and December 2024, after a rise of 13.2 percent. Rail construction and maintenance workers saw the largest increase, at 20.3%. This was followed by stonemasons/related trades with a 19.9% rise and plasterers with a 16.5% rise.
Overall, the IT sector experienced a decrease of 3.4% in job postings. The exception was the data entry administrator role, which grew 10.4 percent after a 6.3-percent increase in January 2025. IT quality and testing specialists, IT project manager and data analysts all saw smaller declines between 1.7 and 2.1 per cent.
In February 2025, the administrative sector saw a 0.4-percent increase in job listings. There were over 119,000 positions listed. Communication operators (7.2%), national government administrative occupations (6.3%) and financial administrative occupations were the most in-demand.
The highest increases in the number of job openings were seen across all sectors for landscape and gardeners (33.1%), teaching professionals (22.7%) and rail construction and maintenance workers (20.3%). The largest declines in employment were recorded by veterinary nurses (23.1 percent), couriers and delivery drivers (30.1%), and train and tram operators (-35.3%).
Perspectives on Industry and Policy
Neil Carberry (CEO of REC) noted that businesses are showing resilience despite the ongoing economic challenges.
“Firms are working hard to find new growth due to rising costs, and it’s reassuring to see that some feel more prepared to hire.” Carberry stated that the growing stability in demand would reassure policymakers and recruiters, given the difficult outlook for businesses due to National Insurance increases, wage increases, and global political changes.
The rise in job advertisements for construction is significant, he said, especially given the recent concern about the strength of the sector. He noted that the number of hospitality job advertisements had also increased despite recent pressures on the industry. However, he added that businesses still need government assistance to maintain hiring trends.
“The government needs to deliver a Spring Statement which is not only positive but also has a clear growth strategy for the long term. This will help unlock more latent demand in hiring and investing that we think is there. To achieve this, we must work in partnership with businesses to close skill gaps, promote innovation and increase job opportunities. He said that the government should make a good pitch, and then let the business handle the rest.
Although IT recruitment is still subdued there are nearly 30,000 job listings for software developers and programmers, and almost 12,000 for IT architects, business analysts and systems designers.
