Hundreds of applicants are chasing every vacant job in some industries, according to an analysis of official Job Centre figures.

For some jobs more than 300 people chased every vacancy, especially jobs in the construction and house building sectors.

A total of 13,965 people applied for the 93 bricklaying jobs that came up in June, while 52,470 people chased just 206 available labouring jobs in factories. White-collar professions were hit just as hard, with more than 100 applicants for every vacancy in company boardrooms, air pilots and journalism.

The figures came ahead of unemployment stats showing a 13-year high.