A SIGNIFICANT increase in the number of job vacancies across Peterborough may indicate that the city is on the road to recovery from the recession.

Analysis of job advert data revealed a very positive outlook for the coming months, as the amount of jobs being advertised is beginning to increase at a higher rate than the same time last year.

Jobs website AllTheTopBananas.com revealed that vacancies in Peterborough have increased by 24% since September, compared to a 15% decrease within the same period last year. This supports the view of industry experts who believe we may at last be witnessing the beginning of an upturn in recruitment. This is very positive news for jobseekers in Peterborough, as more vacancies are becoming available in the run up to Christmas.

The data analysed included job statistics for retail, catering, sales, IT and general job sectors, all of which showed an increasing job count for the city. The results prove particularly significant for the retail sector, which has been heavily affected by the recession. At the end of October, massive high street retailer John Lewis released supporting, positive reports that showed their sales figures increased for the fifth consecutive week- suggesting that retail may be significantly recovering in time for the Christmas period; although there is still speculation of the impact of the proposed return to 17.5% VAT in January on sales next year.

Dave Martin, MD of AllTheTopBananas.com, said: “What we are beginning to see, are the first signs of recovery for the jobs market. Job counts are increasing in most locations around the UK, in a number of key sectors, which will be a very welcome change for jobseekers, who have been having a pretty tough time this year. The overall job count for October was at its highest since January, which is extremely good news for recruitment. Whilst the UK is still officially in a recession, the reports that the US economy has grown for the first time in over a year; and the data from the Halifax highlighting a rise in UK house prices; are all very positive signs that we may be well and truly on the road to recovery.”

Although the news for the job market in the coming months is very positive, AllTheTopBananas.com calculated that the overall UK job count has decreased by 48% since 2008. Dave Martin said, “It is still early days, but the results certainly indicate that the jobs market has a good chance of recovery. We may still have a long way to go before we are officially out of recession and have recovered the amount of jobs lost over the year, but our statistics offer some great hope for businesses and jobseekers alike. We shall continue to watch the market over the coming months, and publish this information so that people can easily monitor the changes in the jobs market, and hopefully continue to see positive changes in the number of jobs advertised.”