The UK labour market has seen a rise in the number of job vacancies so far in 2012, according to the Reed Job Index.
A survey by the recruitment giant of over 10,000 companies revealed there was a 6% increase in vacancies between Q4 2011 and Q1 2012.
37 industry sectors were analysed, with engineering reaching its highest mark for employment demand since the Index began in December 2009. Other notable increases in demand were recorded across IT, construction, motoring and purchasing.
The East Midlands lead the UK in terms of year-on-year growth, whilst only Scotland and Northern Ireland were the only areas to show a decline in demand.
Reed Managing Director, Martin Warnes, suggested that employers across technical and manufacturing sectors were contributing to the economic recovery by taking on more staff.
“Led by an upbeat engineering sector, these industries are showing intent to plan sustainable futures by increasing staff. A boost to the number of new construction jobs available also gives hope that a sustained economic recovery is on the cards,” he added.