IT and the professions drove a strong increase in recruitment in October, according to the latest edition of a monthly index.

The Bank of Ireland Job Index, which monitors trends in recruitment, shows that employers advertised 17,857 posts last month.

The figure was an increase of 10 per cent on October 2003. The professions showed the biggest jump with a 47 per cent increase and IT was up 40 per cent. Retailing continued a recent trend of strong growth with a 21 per cent rise, while healthcare job advertising grew 16 per cent.

The hard-hit manufacturing sector saw a 45 per cent fall in recruitment ads. Other areas to show a drop were leisure, with 14 per cent and financial with 8 per cent. Education and building showed slight falls as well.

The bank said in a statement yesterday that the index confirmed the trend indicated in figures showing that less than 2,000 redundancies were notified to the Government in October.

The number was 15 per cent down on October 2003. Mr Cathal Muckian, director, Bank of Ireland Business Banking, said the results were good news for Irish business.