University graduates have been warned not to set their hopes too high despite a big increase in vacancies registered with an employment service.
Vacancies recorded by the online Joint Institutions Job Information System rose to 18,006 between March 1 and May 31, an increase of more than 30 per cent from 13,663 at the same time last year.
The number surprised employment consultant Edmond So Wai-chung, who said he had expected the numbers to be down because of difficult economic conditions.
'I thought it would have been worse than last year,' said So, general manager of Besteam Personnel Consultancy.
The increases in jobs offered were as much as 84 per cent for community and social work and 61 per cent for the creative, design and arts industries.
But So was especially surprised by a rise of more than half in vacancies offered by the banking and finance industry, which he said was 'beyond my expectations'.