The UK jobs market remained flat last month despite signs of a strengthening economy as advertised salaries for new jobs fell for the first time since last October, according to a search engine for vacancies.

The number of roles advertised in May stood at 854,248, up marginally from 854,171 in April, according to research from Adzuna, despite official figures showing that the economy grew by 0.7 per cent over the three months to April, the fastest expansion for almost two years.

The number of jobseekers per vacancy rose last month to 1.91, up from 1.89 in April and the highest since August 2021, while the average duration of job postings fell to 36.9 days, down from 39 days.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, which