The technology sector - ITT and multimedia, Internet and graphic design -- is showing signs of recovery, according to the latest Internet job index.
The Olivier Internet Job Index for May shows a 4.6 per cent rise in the number of jobs advertised on the Internet in Australia last month.
Olivier research analyst Daisy Hoffmann said while experience suggests that people in computing and networking are keen to see an upswing, she warned against too much optimism.
Hoffmann said that while the 2.5 per cent upswing in ITT means there are almost 200 new jobs, the sector has lost 15,900 jobs in the past 12 months.
"We've had false dawns in the tech sectors before, but the overall surge in jobs does give some rise for optimism," Hoffmann said.
Typically for this kind of upswing, the smaller states have shown good growth in job ads in the past month.
"NSW is the one state that's lagging behind the rest of the country," Hoffmann said, "but it may have been weakened by the extra job losses in IT".
According to the Olivier Internet Job Index for May, there has been a 36.64 per cent increase in jobs since the index hit rock bottom in December last year and May 2002.
"That's more than 2800 extra new job vacancies for Australians to fill in the last month," Hoffmann said.
"But more importantly it signals that there's steady growth at a realistic rate in the Australian job market. This must indicate a 'steady as it goes' approach to the Reserve Bank of Australia."
Hoffmann said there are no abnormal factors such as the Olympics or a change in government policy behind the increase.
"The Federal budget was neutral on employment -- this increase is a true indication of a healthy, but not overheated economy," she said.
The index is over the benchmark 100 again, after six months below the level of vacancies in January 2000, when the index started.
The steady growth in the Olivier index figures contrasts significantly with newspaper job ad data, which has been fluctuating strongly this year.