There were 1,669,203 active job posts, a decrease of -2.6% from June 2026 but a gain of 7.7% for the year.
726,867 new employment were created, a reduction of 14.2% from June but a rise of 0.9% over July 2025.
UK Summer Jobs and Recruitment Hotspots
The top recruiting hotspots vs June 2026 were Milton Keynes (33%), Westminster (11.9%), Lewisham and Southwark (8.4%), Solihull (7%) and the Orkney Islands (6.7%).
In contrast, the districts that had the biggest reductions in the number of active job listings during the same period were Moray (-15.6%), Newry, Mourne and Down (-15.8%), East Dunbartonshire (-16.6%), North Ayrshire (-17.8%) and East Ayrshire (-18.2%)
Midlands Hiring Growth
The Midlands has seen significant expansion, with four of the top 10 hiring hotspots found in the region. The areas with the lowest growth this month were East Dunbartonshire (-16.6%), North Ayrshire (-17.8%) and East Ayrshire (-18.2%).
Both indicators of job listings were down somewhat from June 2026, although July last year saw an increase in the number of active job ads and new job postings.
Seasonal Summer Jobs Market Returns
At this time last year there was a fear over the loss of the great British summer job, as REC’s jobs statistics revealed thousands of fewer unique ads for positions than prior summers. But compared to this year, seasonal demand has experienced an upturn.
August’s Labour Market Tracker reported that between June 2026 and July 2026, the three fastest-growing occupations were authors, writers and translators (32.4%), performers, entertainers and presenters (27.7%) and environment professionals (24.5%).
By contrast, the occupations with the highest decreases in active job adverts over the same time were secondary education teaching professionals (-22.2%), undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants (-28.4%) and head teachers and principals (-30.1%).
“This is the summer when the seasonal summer jobs market started to come back,” said Maxine Bligh, REC’s chief membership and innovation officer. A packed calendar of sporting, music and cultural events, such as the men’s football World Cup, and exceptionally warm weather have helped create demand for labour.
“It’s not all plain sailing for young people to earn wages just yet, with many entry level jobs still not bouncing back as much as we would like, but there are certainly more opportunities across hospitality, tourism and construction than last year.
“An Indian summer in a lot of the UK may mean many of these opportunities go on longer than usual. The goal now is to keep up this hiring pace for the rest of the year and into new areas. There is still a lot to find out about the route the next PM will take on igniting development.
“With the October budget looming, focus is now shifting to tax and spend, and businesses are already pricing in expected costs for providing guarantyd hours. The government’s own study says firms may be buried under an extra £2.9 billion of costs a year – money that could pay for 137,000 full-time workers aged between 18 and 20 years old on national minimum wage.
“It’s time to revisit these proposals and for government to get out of the way of businesses better placed to deliver the jobs and growth the economy is crying out for.”