The sunny weather seems to have boosted the motivation of jobseekers in Essex.

New figures released this month found job hunters in the county were more proactive in finding work in May than any other month in the past year.

CV Library found the number of jobs available in Essex was up by 24 per cent with applications made from professionals looking for new work up four per cent in May compared to April.

Lee Biggins, managing director of CV-Library said: “These figures are strong, and when put side by side with data from the same period in 2013, they become hugely encouraging.

“We are seeing jobs being filled more and more quickly as the competition for newly created roles increases.

Admin roles were most popular for job seekers, followed by manufacturing and engineering.

Distribution and sales fell slightly compared to April but jobs in education grew with 46 per cent more applications made in May compared to a month earlier.

However competition for these roles has also increased, said the survey.

During May there were on average 14 applications per vacancy in Essex.