UK skills shortage? Most British cities posting more jobs than there are jobseekers

There are now more job vacancies being posted than there are people to fill the roles. Such is the state of play in 32 out of 50 major British cities, according to recruitment website Adzuna.

The findings will contribute to fears the UK could be heading towards a skills shortage.

The number of jobseekers in the UK now stands at 795,967 according to the report – a massive fall from the 1,142,340 people looking for work at this time last year.

On the other hand, 1,033,435 roles were posted in April meaning that there were just 0.77 candidates for every job vacancy being advertised.

Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said: "The number of jobseekers is falling while advertised vacancies are ballooning. This could be a warning sign that our workforce lacks the skills necessary to fill up many of the new jobs appearing.

"The recovery certainly has the capacity to progress further and faster — but at the moment there's a disconnect between our abilities and our economic climate. It's like standing outside your recently fixed up car, tuned up and ready to go, only to realise you've lost the keys.

"If we're going to get behind the wheel of this recovery, we need to unlock the potential of our workforce, with more emphasis on the diversity of available jobs if only people are aware of them and willing to train themselves."