Slight rise in jobless graduate numbers but Leeds labour market buoyant

The study published today reveals that while there was work to be found around the UK jobs were not spread out equally. The research, based on official figures, showed that in 2010/11 21 per cent of UK graduates were working in the capital, while just 3.8 per cent were working in the North East.

Around 7.5 per cent of graduates were employed in Yorkshire, 11 per cent had jobs in the North West, 6.1 per cent in the East Midlands, 7.7 per cent in the West Midlands, 7.2 per cent in the east of England, 12.5 per cent in the South East and 7.5 per cent in the South West. It also revealed that 4.7 per cent were working in Wales, 7.8 per cent in Scotland and three per cent in Northern Ireland.

London offered a concentration of jobs in business, finance, marketing and advertising. Hertfordshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire and Manchester were also leading places for jobs in marketing and advertising, while graduates were more likely to find science-based jobs in Oxfordshire or Cambridgeshire, and Aberdeen was the most common starting place for students going into engineering.

The study, by the Higher Education Careers Service unit, found that some parts of the UK had relatively strong labour markets, with a range of jobs, and these were often bigger cities, such as Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh as well as London.

The study said it was clear “jobs are not spread equally around the whole country, nor can everyone move to any part of the UK in search of a job”.

But it found that overall, there had been a slight increase in the graduate unemployment rate, standing at 8.6 per cent in 2012, compared with 8.5 per cent last year.