Cheering news this week for graduate job hunters, as the blue chip recruiters have revealed they are set to increase hiring again this year. Overall vacancies at the 226 large and medium size graduate recruiting firms surveyed for the Association of Graduate Recruiters’ Winter Report will rise by 14.5% from last year.

Strong UK and global economies, performing well after recovering from the 2001 downturn, have led to the resurgence in hiring. Between 2001-2 and 02-03, the number of grads hired fell (by 6.5% and 3.4% respectively), but since then there have been annual increases in the mid-teens.

The highest rises are set to come in the financial and professional services sectors, with recruitment boosting a third in investment banks for example, and vacancies at consultancies and accountancy firms up by 27% and 26% respectively. The latter, becoming more prominent in the wake of Enron, Parmalat and other financial scandals, will account for just less than 1 in 4 jobs available to graduates this year.

The research, carried out by High Fliers Research, is based on replies from more than a third of the Association's 600 members, who between them recruit around 20,000 graduates a year. This is roughly 6% of the graduating cohort in the year, which means that the survey is indicative of only a small, though important, section of the market. This summer 260,000 graduates will be either actively in the job market or taking a sabbatical.

Carl Gilleard, the Association's Chief Executive, says the findings should "bring a smile to the faces of final-year students".

He says: "The report should act as a wake-up call to the graduate Class of 2005. They should seriously consider taking advantage of the buoyant graduate vacancy market now."