The  UK offers some of the best job prospects in Europe after recovering well from the financial crisis of 2008, according to a new study.

Research in 16 countries highlights the UK with Norway, Austria and Estonia as having relatively low levels of the population out of work or under-employed.

Spain, Greece and Portugal were said to have the worst job prospects because of their "lacklustre" economic performance, said the report by jobs site Glassdoor. The most impressive jobs rebound since 2008 was said to be in Germany, where employment has risen above pre-crisis levels, said the report.

Youth unemployment is more than 50 per cent in Greece and Spain, almost 43 per cent in Italy and nearly 25 per cent in France, Ireland and Belgium. In Britain the figure is 17 per cent.

The proportion of those who work part-time but would rather be working full-time has increased everywhere since 2008, with the exception of Germany, Belgium and Sweden.

The proportion is highest in Italy, Spain, and Ireland, and lowest in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway and Estonia.

Dr Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor’s chief economist, said: “European labour markets today are diverse and present myriad challenges, as well as opportunities, for jobseekers.

“On the one hand, countries such as the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland enjoy below-average unemployment.

“By contrast, Greece, Spain and Portugal have continued to struggle with double-digit unemployment and slow economic growth, partly because of inflexible labour market regulations which have proven difficult to reform in recent years.”

In the UK statistics suggest unemployment is falling, with a record 31 million people now said to be in work.