Healthcare staff shortage main factor in near-record job vacancies

ONS analysis shows sector accounts for more than one in 10 of job ads posted online in December

Job vacancies in the UK have reached a near-record level, due largely to the shortage of nurses, carers and other healthcare staff.

According to analysis by the Office for National Statistics, more than one in 10 job vacancies posted online in December were in healthcare – more than in any other sector. The statistics agency said healthcare was the job category with the highest share of adverts in almost 90% of local authorities in the UK.