The average advertised salary in the UK increased by 3.9% between December 2017 and December 2018, according to research by job search engine Adzuna.
The UK job market report: January 2019 is based on online vacancy data from across 500 sources. It also found that the average advertised salary in the UK is £34,213 as at December 2018, an increase of 1.6% from the £33,682 average salary recorded in November 2018.
Those in the teaching profession have reaped the biggest increase in rewards over the last 12 months, with the average advertised salary increasing by 14.4% to reach £30,511. This is followed by a 7.8% average salary increase for legal professionals, equating to an average advertised wage of £43,733. IT positions generate an average annual salary of £51,401, a 5% rise over the last year.
At the other end of the scale, the retail sector has seen its average advertised salary in the UK decrease by 5.9% between December 2017 and December 2018, for an annual average salary of £25,385. Maintenance jobs have seen a similar fall, decreasing by 5.1% to reach an average of £28,980.
Wales is the only UK region that has seen an overall fall in its average advertised salary in the last year (0.5%). In comparison, South West England has enjoyed a 8.2% hike, with an average wage of £32,552. London still offers the highest average salary throughout the UK, with £41,859; this is an increase of 5.3% since last year.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder at Adzuna, said: "With salaries at their highest and vacancies at their lowest for four years, there may be room for cautious optimism at the moment. However, one sector where the picture is not so rosy is retail, where [employees] are feeling the pinch.
"We recently published reports that say they are the unhappiest [employees] in the UK and it's clear to see why: low salaries, declining vacancies and the looming threat of closures make retail a challenging place to be."
