An increasing number of jobs were advertised in the national daily and Sunday newspapers in August compared to July, but job ads are still down on last year, according to Bank of Ireland .
Despite a spate of recent factory closures, Bank of Ireland's job index which gauges recruitment advertising found that the number of manufacturing jobs advertised is now at the highest level recorded since the index began in March 2002.
Numbers in both the construction and leisure sectors are just marginally off their highest point over the same period.
Mr Tom Comerford, director of business banking at Bank of Ireland, described some of the trends in the job index as "very encouraging", particularly the continued growth in the manufacturing. He said this reflects Bank of Ireland's recent experience in lending demand and "gives cause for optimism".
Dr Dan McLaughlin, Bank of Ireland's chief economist, said that despite recent disappointing news in the manufacturing sector, the jobs index shows a "substantial upturn" in manufacturing recruitment.
The construction sector continues to show a steady annual increase, which is consistent with official jobs data, and the leisure sector has also picked up.
However Dr McLaughlin said there is no sign as yet of a rebound in IT recruitment and recruitment is also falling in financial services.