COMPETITION FOR jobs varies wildly across the UK, with 55 jobseekers for each vacancy in some areas and less than one in others, according to research.
Hull was named as the most difficult place to find work, with Aberdeen the easiest, revealed the study by Adzuna, a search engine for job adverts.
Around 55 people chased every vacancy in Hull in 2012, 36 in Sunderland, 25 in Southend, 19 in Wolverhampton and 14 in Bradford.
In contrast, there was fewer than one jobseeker per vacancy in Aberdeen, Cambridge, Guildford and Reading and one in Oxford.
London was the best-paying city with average salaries of more than £41,000, followed by Aberdeen (£37,670), Cambridge (£34,009), Slough (£33,415) and Guildford (£32,539).
The lowest average advertised salaries were found in Preston (£25,718), Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon and Maidstone (all at around £26,000), said the report.
Adzuna said a search of half a million vacancies showed that computing, engineering and finance were the most buoyant sectors in 2012, with average salary rises of 6% over the past six months.
Average pay for iPhone developers and financial advisers have shot up by over 20%, and for translators by 17%.
The top employer this year is said to be the London Olympic Games, creating 100,000 jobs, although most were temporary.