Job postings ‘fluctuated wildly’ by sector and the hardest hit was catering, down -32.3% month-on-month and -71.1% year-on-year.

Lee Biggins founder and chief executive of CV-Library, commented: “Given the restrictions imposed by the second national lockdown, the November figures for the catering industry were sadly inevitable. For any other month, the overall numbers would also be disappointing, but the data is quite encouraging

“It highlights a resilience and steadiness not seen in the previous lockdown where overall numbers fell much more dramatically and last year the number of job postings fell by a higher percentage, 12.3%, between October and November 2019.

“As we emerge from the lockdown in this most unpredictable year, December, traditionally one of the busiest months for the catering industry, should see businesses hiring in greater numbers and we encourage candidates to keep up their searches. There is still time to secure a new position before 2020 ends.”