New job vacancy data has proved what many suspected; that last week's positive employment figures were heavily influenced by part-time jobs.
Adzuna, a classified advertisement search engine, also found that competition for vacancies had risen 0.9% month-on-month, with 3.54 jobseekers applying for each vacancy across the UK.
"At first glance, it would appear the UK is standing alone in economic absurdity with unemployment falling, job vacancies on the up and GDP declining," said a spokesman for Adzuna.
"But looking at the live data, it's clear that the rise in part-time jobs, the overspill from the Olympics and the fact that Wednesday’s ONS data is two months old, is buffering the employment statistics.
"Adzuna’s employment data clearly indicates that while UK unemployment levels have bucked the economic trend over the summer, maintaining an unemployment number of 2.53 million or below will be a challenge in Q4."
The Huffington Post UK first highlighted the rise in part-time workers when the Office for National Statistics on employment were first released on 19 October.
The figures showed part-time employment had increased by 125,000 between March and May to 8.13 million.
Adzuna also had bad news for UK graduates - with 50 applicants applying for each graduate opportunity.
However, there is some good news for those living in Aberdeen, as just 0.35 applicants go for each job in the city.
"Aberdeen still holds the top spot for the best city to find a job, but Wolverhampton is the worst place to find a job, with over 23 jobseekers per vacancy," said the spokesman.
"London has become even more competitive this month, jumping from 1.78 to 2.20 jobseekers per vacancy."
Job-seekers in Cambridge and Guilford also benefitted from having less than one applicant per position, with Reading and Oxford arriving close behind with 1.07 and 1.12 respectively.
London, Milton Keynes, Crawley, Slough and Maidstone made up the remainder of the best 10 places to find a job.
At the other end of the scale, Wolverhampton was followed by Bradford (17.29 applicants per job), Middlesborough (11.34), Birmingham (11.01) and Glasgow (10.34) on the list of most difficult cities for finding a job.
Analysis also suggested that much of the rise in self-employment can be attributed to a shift from corporate employment to a more entrepreneurial mindset, rather than individuals being forced to start up on their own.
Tech City in East London is now home to more than 200 start-up employers, and Cambridge's Science Park is now classified as Europe’s largest centre for research and development.
However, there was bad news when it came to wages - advertised UK salaries are falling; Adzuna’s UK Salary Index reveals a 3.7% drop MOM and a 5.51% fall in the past six months in the salaries employers are willing to pay new employees.
The UK average advertised salary stands at £32,739 p.a, representing a “Total Earning Opportunity” for UK residents of £14.7 billion, down 18% since Q1.
Elsewhere, Aberdeen hit the headlines for jobs stories for all the wrong reasons on 20 October after it was announced the Remploy in Aberdeen - an agency dedicated to helping disabled people find jobs - would be shut down, resulting in 15 redundancies.
Aberdeen Central MSP Kevin Stewart told the Express it would be a “dark day” for workers and families.