Job vacancy rate

A job vacancy is a paid post which can be newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant, for which the employer is taking active steps and is prepared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned.

The job vacancy rate is the percentage ratio between vacancies and the sum of vacancies and occupied posts (both measured at the end of the reference quarter).

In the fourth quarter of 2011 the job vacancy rate for the total of sectors covered by the survey (industry and services) was 0.6%, unchanged with respect to the fourth quarter of 2010.