Hull proves biggest job seeker challenge

Hull was named as the most difficult place to find work, with Aberdeen the easiest, revealed the study by a job advert search engine Adzuna.

About 55 people chased each vacancy in Hull in 2012, 36 in Sunderland, 25 in Southend, 19 in Wolverhampton and 14 in Bradford.

In contrast, fewer than one jobseeker chased each vacancy in Aberdeen, Cambridge, Guildford and Reading while the rate in Oxford was one

London was the best-paying city with average salaries of more than £41,000, followed by Aberdeen (£37,670), Cambridge (£34,009), Slough (£33,415) and Guildford (£32,539).

The lowest average advertised salaries were found in Preston (£25,718), Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon and Maidstone (all at about £26,000), said the report.

Adzuna said a search of half a million vacancies showed that computing, engineering and finance were the most buoyant sectors in 2012, with average salary rises of 6 per cent over the past six months.

Average pay for iPhone developers and financial advisers shot up by more than 20 per cent, and for translators by 17 per cent.

The year’s top employer was said to be the Olympic Games, creating about 100,000 jobs, although most were temporary.

Supermarkets created more than 30,000 jobs, while other leading employers were named as the Royal Mail, the NHS, Deloitte and Ryanair.

Adzuna has also predicted that the number of part-time jobs will increase by 4 per cent in the coming months.