A US index that measures managerial online recruitment activity has risen to its highest level since January 2008.

The March 2011 CareerCast.com/JobSeref Employment Index measured 109.5 points during the month – a 5.2 point gain on the figure from February and a 65.4 point gain since March 2009.

The index is intended to give a gauge on the amount of managerial recruitment being carried out through online portals and has shown gradual but consistent growth since the end of 2010.

Jay Martin, the chief operating officer of US online recruitment portal, Jobserf, said that the recent figures had been a cause for optimism in the industry.

“It is heartening to see sustained hiring activity over the past few months,” he said. “There were 2.5 times as many jobs in March as there were a year ago.”

CareerCast.com’s publisher, Tony Lee, said that the upswing in hiring activity gave hope that the recruitment and job market had turned a sharp corner from the post-recession doldrums. He explained, “Our Index is mirroring other reports being released about the state of the job market, which is very good news for managerial candidates looking for new jobs.”

The statistics were broken down according to cities and towns, with Louisville, Kentucky showing a 15 per cent gain compared to the February figures and Hartford, Connecticut and Memphis, Tennessee also showing impressive gains.

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