ACTIVITY IN the jobs market continued to increase in the opening three months of 2011, according to new research from online recruitment company Irishjobs.ie.

The Irishjobs.ie jobs index for the first quarter of the year also showed salary expectations have increased by an average of €3,000 from the same time last year, even though the unemployment rate has reached 14.7 per cent.

The index, which monitors jobs advertised by companies on Irishjobs.ie and Jobs.ie, revealed a 174 per cent jump in new HR and recruitment positions in the first quarter of 2011, compared to the same period a year earlier. The marketing sector was close behind, enjoying a 173 per cent rise in online job ads. However the report notes both sectors are coming from a relatively low base.

People with strong selling skills were also in demand, with the number of sales vacancies jumping 62 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2010.

“Sales, more than any other category of job, has been the job category most consistently in demand over the lifetime of the index,” said Dr Stephen Kinsella, author of the Irishjobs.ie report, and economics lecturer at University of Limerick.

Finance and accountancy jobs were positive, while increasing demand was evident in sectors such as science, pharmaceutical and food, IT and engineering.

“This is a surprising set of figures,” Dr Kinsella said. “Amidst the doom and gloom of the overall unemployment figures, we are seeing evidence of a positive movement in the labour market in certain sectors, notably professional services.”