The average salary for a job advertised in the UK over the last six months has risen again, to £31,969 a year.

Jobs search engine www.allthetopbananas.com, which analysed 875,560 jobs to produce its December Monthly Salary Index, found the average advertised salary has gone up £679 since the salary index was introduced in October. London stays top of the regions with the highest average advertised salary at £38,504.

Wales has seen an increase of £1,241 to £31,518 since last month’s results, and the West Midlands has moved up a place.
The East Midlands stays at the bottom of the table with an average advertised salary of £25,954.

Dave Martin, the managing director of www.allthetopbananas.com, said: “The salary index has shown there is a definite trend of average advertised salaries increasing across much of the UK. If, as some people predict, confidence in the UK economy cools in the first few months of 2008, it will be interesting to see how that affects advertised salaries.

“The index can’t take into account the hundreds of variables that affect wages such as experience or availability of staff. But it is a fascinating way for anyone to compare their salary to the advertised average in their area.”