The number of vacancies in the UK economy has fallen back in line with pre-pandemic levels, according to new figures from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

Data from the business group shows that there were 1.44m active job postings in December, only slightly more than the 1.41m open roles recorded five years ago.

The survey showed that there was a 5.5 per cent decrease in the number of job openings compared to November while the number of new job postings fell by nearly 17 per cent.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said this was partly due to seasonal factors.

“December is always a recruitment low point,” he noted. But the figures point to the prolonged slowdown in the labour market over the past couple of years.

Demand for workers surged in the aftermath of the pandemic, with the number of vacancies exceeding the number of people looking for work for much of 2022.

Since then the number of vacancies has steadily been declining. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the number of vacancies has decreased for 29 consecutive rolling quarters.