The Recruitment and Employment Confederation has said active UK job postings rose by more than 10% year on year in August, while warning that hiring remains fragile as ministers prepare for the Budget.
According to the REC Labour Market Tracker, there were 1,699,589 active job postings in August 2026 — a 1.8% increase on July and a 10.4% rise compared with August 2025. New postings totalled 712,781, down 1.9% on the previous month but up 3.6% year on year.
REC Interim Chief Executive Maxine Bligh said the figures showed resilience but argued the market still needs a boost.
Bligh: 'The labour market is showing resilience'
"The labour market is showing resilience against domestic and global strains. But the UK deserves a flourishing jobs market that delivers growth for businesses and more opportunities for workers," Bligh said.
"The latest job figures are a clear sign for the Chancellor that the labour market is resilient but needs stimulating to really kick on. A restoration of the Employer National Insurance threshold would be a big help. And a quick win would be a pared-back and more practical approach to the guaranteed hours proposals, which in their current form is a big threat to temporary work."
She added that recruiters expect hiring to remain uneven for the rest of 2026, with demand still strong for manual and mid-skilled roles including delivery drivers, large goods vehicle drivers, carpenters, joiners and plasterers.
Where postings rose — and fell
Dumfries and Galloway recorded the largest rise in active postings between July and August (33.8%), followed by Milton Keynes (31.7%) and Westminster (28.0%). Seven of the top 10 areas for growth were in Scotland. The steepest falls were in West Sussex (North East) (-10.2%), the Shetland Islands (-6.6%) and East Surrey (-6.6%).
By occupation, delivery drivers and couriers saw the strongest growth in active postings (91.8%), ahead of crane drivers (42.9%) and plasterers (40.7%). Primary and secondary teaching posts were among the largest declines.
Healthcare recorded 207,930 active postings in August, up 1.0% on July and 6.9% year on year. Finance-related postings fell 2.4% month on month but remained 10.6% higher than a year earlier, while IT postings were down 1.3% on July but up 22.3% year on year.
