Southampton’s job market has continued to strengthen, with the latest data from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, finding that job applications, vacancies and average salaries all saw impressive growth in the first quarter of the year.

In fact, CV-Library’s Q1 job market report, which compared data from Q1 2017 with Q4 2016, found that Southampton was one of the most competitive cities to find a job in, with job applications in the city up by 28.5 per cent.

This figure put at ninth in the UK ahead of Leeds on 25 per cent. Bristol topped the table on 39 per cent. Portsmouth (35.9 per cent) was at number four.

Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, comments: “It is fantastic to see the job market in Southampton not only holding its own, but also expanding throughout the first quarter of the year. While it was always to be expected, it is particularly promising to see a huge number of candidates in the city actively looking for their next career challenge, and with salaries seeing an impressive rise, the financial benefits of making a career move are clear to see.”

Additionally, average advertised salaries in the area experienced positive growth, with Southampton seeing quarterly pay increases of 1.7 per cent.

Total job vacancies have grew by 14.8 pere cent when compared to the last quarter/

Lee added: “2017 will inevitably bring a range of challenges to the job market, with the likes of Brexit, the ‘gig’ economy and worker automation constantly under the spot-light. However it is very promising to see the core job market strengthening and expanding in Southampton throughout this period.”