Higher job hopes and bigger salaries for this year's graduates

Job prospects are booming for graduates for the first time since 2001.

Starting salaries have hit £21,000 amid the first rise in vacancies for three years, according to a survey of blue-chip firms.

The most jobs and the highest wages are found in London and the South-East, according to the poll for the Association of Graduate

Recruiters. London produced just under 40 per cent of graduate vacancies, compared with the South-East's 11.3 per cent.

The poll of 223 large employers showed that demand for graduates should continue to rise next year as well, with 82 per cent saying they expected to maintain or increase recruitment.

AGR members reported a 15.5 per cent rise in vacancies, compared with falls of 3.4 per cent last year and 6.5 per cent in 2002. Average starting salaries rose by 3.4 per cent from £20,300.

Accountancy and law firms and investment banks generated about 40 per cent of the vacancies, with engineering companies and retailers at eight per cent each.

The survey indicated that recruitment conditions in the computing industry were recovering after several tough years. There was a 52 per cent surge in information technology vacancies and a 50.9 per cent jump in opportunities for junior investment bankers and fund managers. But law firms reported a 1.3 per cent increase in vacancies, while they plunged 35 per cent at insurance companies. Investment banks paid £35,000, the highest starting salaries.

AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard said: "The findings are good news for the graduate recruitment industry and great news for graduates themselves."