A RECORD number of jobseekers and new vacancies gave a Gloucestershire job board a hectic start to the year, according to latest figures.

GlosJobs.co.uk saw 121,282 visits and 2,326 new job adverts uploaded last month – at the same time as the UK unemployment rate figures fell to 7.1 per cent.

Belinda Wilson, director of GlosJobs.co.uk and GFirst LEP Ambassador for Gloucestershire, said more businesses are expanding to cover skills shortages while retaining existing employees.

“Confidence appears higher and is no doubt boosted by recent economic headlines, with more people searching for jobs and more vacancies being posted,” she said.

"With optimism and confidence come new opportunities to flourish, and with unemployment rates falling this is excellent news for the county.”

GlosJobs.co.uk has been helping Gloucestershire’s employers find the right employees since it was launched in 2001.

In that time, it has had 288,026 job adverts uploaded and now has more than 2,700 advertisers.