The IT job market last year was the strongest of 21 industry sectors surveyed, with a particular increase in vacancies for graduates, according to an index released on Monday.

The latest Olivier jobs index shows that IT jobs ads increased by 77.7 percent over the last year, even though the number of IT job ads dropped by 5.12 percent in January.

"This dip is to be expected over the holiday period and is small compared to the decline that other sectors saw in January," said Robert Olivier, who heads up the recruitment agency.

By aggregating results from Seek, My Career and Career One Web sites, Olivier compiles an Internet job index each month -- one which has been showing IT&T jobs to be rising consistently over the last two years. These results are seasonally adjusted in consultation with the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Overall, Olivier says he is optimistic that the IT sector will remain buoyant this year and anticipates there will be a big call for business analysts.

"In terms of raw programming skills .Net will still lead the way," he said.

The continuing increase in positions for IT graduates coincides, however, with a decline in university IT enrolments.

Olivier believes there will be a three-year lag, before perceptions change about IT as a career and it becomes a desirable path of study again.

And while this may lead to a skills shortage in the short term, "this is great news for current graduates seeking to enter the workforce", Olivier said.