Advertised salaries fell 2.7% in the year to November, with the biggest drop in wages hitting workers in the retail sector, according to a new report.

The average advertised salary fell to £32,221 in November from £33,118 a year earlier according to Adzuna, the jobs search engine. They were down 1.5% compared with October’s £32,725.

The biggest annual drop in advertised salaries was in the retail sector, where the average fell by 17.4% to £21,769. Adzuna said the sharp fall was partly down to a rise in the number of more low-paid temporary jobs .



Other sectors to record big pay cuts included consultancy, down 16.4% in the year to November, customer service jobs, down 11.3%, and warehouse jobs, down 10.3%.

The number of jobs advertised hit a 12-month high of 1.165m in November – a 0.2% rise compared with October, but 6.4% lower than the same month in 2015.

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “The jobs market has fared well in the main this year, given the unexpected events within the political climate.

“Despite total advertised vacancies increasing significantly, it may be too early to brand the jobs market a complete success given salary stagnation and the unpredictability that may lie ahead in the new year.”

Economists have warned that 2017 will be a tougher year for consumers and businesses, with lower growth, higher inflation and weak wage growth. Uncertainty is also expected to rise next year as Brexit negotiations begin.

“2017 will certainly bring new prospects and challenges for the jobs market and the sooner Brexit plans are confirmed, the sooner businesses and individuals will be able to plan for the future with more certainty,” Munro said.

Adzuna said competition for jobs was at an all-time low in November, with 0.43 jobseekers per vacancy. The search engine site said that over 2016, Cambridge was the best place to find a job with more than 10 vacancies to every jobseeker. Sunderland was the toughest, with 3.48 jobseekers for every job advertised.

The latest official figures painted a mixed picture of the jobs market in the months following the EU referendum in June. The employment rate fell for the first time in a year and a half in the three months to October, to 74.4% from 74.5% according to the Office for National Statistics. However, the number of people classed as unemployed dropped by 16,000 to 1.62 million and the jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.8%.