The average salary in the West Midlands has breached the £30,000 mark, new research suggests.
The figure rose by 3.1 per cent in June 2014, compared with the previous year, to £30,363, according to the latest UK Job Market Report from recruitment website Adzuna.co.uk.
The top sectors in the West Midlands are IT, where the average salary is £41,213, followed by healthcare and nursing (£36,701), engineering (£34,996) and accounting and finance (£31,038).
The average salary among graduates in the West Midlands is £25,051.
In June 2013, graduates were offered salaries of under £20,000, meaning a 25 per cent increase in salaries for the newly qualified over the last 12 months.
In terms of current vacancies, Birmingham leads the way with 16,964, followed by Staffordshire (10,180), Warwickshire (8,341) and Worcestershire (5,508), the research says.
The report added that, across the UK, average salary growth doubled in June, suggesting the labour market recovery is picking up speed, while advertised salaries climbed year-on-year in 10 out of 12 UK regions.
Advertised salaries across the UK rose to £32,933 in June 2014, growing 1.7 per cent between May and June, and more than double the rate of growth witnessed between April and May 0.6 per cent.
The volume of available vacancies is also rising, Adzuna says, with 839,950 advertised positions in June, 22.3 per cent more than 12 months ago, when 687,039 positions were available.
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said: "Greater economic certainty is finally filtering through into a pick-up in salaries.
"Employers are boosting wages as top talent becomes harder to source, hoping that by supplementing salaries they will attract the best staff.
"At the same time, the pace of job creation is pulling ahead of the number of workers looking to change jobs."
Ten out of 12 UK regions saw annual salary growth in June, with Wales (+19.3 per cent), the South West (+5.1 per cent ) and the North West (+3.4 per cent) improving the most.
Mr Hunter added: "The strong salary growth outside of London and South East is the untold story of the economic recovery.
"The recovering manufacturing sector and regional job growth funds are boosting areas across the country.
"Birmingham has been announced as the construction hub for HS2, which will further lift the labour market in the Midlands by generating 1,500 new jobs.
"Perhaps we can now begin to dispel the myth that the economic recovery has not reached areas outside of London."
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