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Job vacancies across the UK have fallen for the eight time in a row with companies blaming economic pressures for holding back on hiring new staff

New official figures have revealed that job vacancies across the UK have fallen for the eighth time in a row. The news comes ahead of Wednesday’s budget in which Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to set out plans to encourage people back into work.

Jobs on the market fell throughout December and February by 51,000 compared with the three months prior. Although there has been another drop, the number of actual job vacancies remains high at 1.1 million.

The rate of economic activity in people aged between 16 to 64 also dipped to 21.3% between November and January, which was due to people between 16 and 24 getting jobs or looking for work.

UK job vacancies fall for eighth time in a row as companies blame economic pressures for hiring freezes