Considering the uncertainty about the state of the economy this is extremely good news for graduates and also for employers

Carl Gilleard of the Association of Graduate Recruiters

Only 18% of organisations do not expect to fill their vacancies, compared with over half in the two previous years.

AGR members now receive a range of applications via the internet, from both within the UK and overseas.

Competition for graduates is particularly strong in engineering and IT - and the market is becoming increasingly global.

Graduates increasingly need to be able to travel to find the right job.

But, the anticipated growth in vacancies is not uniform across all organisations.

Starting salaries

Some 21% of responding organisations were intending to reduce their graduate intake, and a further 35% of employers were not planning to increase it.

And 44% of organisations are planning to increase graduate opportunities.

Far fewer employers in this latest survey are expecting a shortfall than in recent years.

The total number of unfilled vacancies is estimated to be 588 among all respondents.

The report was compiled by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), based on responses from 207 AGR members.

One in ten companies plans to offer graduates over �26,000.

Starting salaries are predicted to range from �14,500 to �38,000.

The legal profession has the highest starting salaries

The legal sector expects to pay the most with an average starting salary of �26,000, followed by the banking and finance sector at �23,000.

The lowest starting salaries are expected to be in the retail, hotel and catering industries �18,000) and insurance �18,375.

Typical starting salaries for a newly qualified first-degree graduate continue to rise.

Salaries typically rose by 5.5% between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 and are expected to rise by a further 4.1% during 2000/2001 and 2001/2002.

Graduate salaries rose by almost three times the current rate of inflation between 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.

Most vacancies

The biggest increase in vacancies is expected to come from larger companies.

Electronic and electrical engineering, transport and communications firms anticipate a growth of at least 50%.

But the apparent buoyancy in the graduate labour market may be restricted to certain industries with just a couple of organisations from the list above aiming to expand their recruitment greatly.

In electrical engineering and electronics more than 20% of vacancies are likely to be unfilled.

Human resources and personnel remains the least difficult area to recruit into.

The survey found 95% of members use the internet to advertise vacancies.