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Hiring unhindered by market slides

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Fresh jobs are being created by companies seeking to establish their presence in China, but some analysts warn of a tailing off

The Hong Kong jobs sector steamrolled over two normally devastating stock market slides in February and last month to record a three-year high in the number of vacancies posted for a first quarter, latest figures show. But while this buoyant growth is expected to last for the rest of the year, some market watchers are sounding early warnings that a tailing-off is on the horizon.

Statistics from a South China Morning Post/Admango survey tracking job vacancies advertised in Hong Kong's six major recruitment publications on a monthly basis recorded 64,459 job ads being posted from January to March this year - the highest for a first quarter since the data was tracked in 2004. This represented an increase of 17.6 per cent over the 54,790 recorded in the same period in 2006. The previous high for the first quarter was 60,620 positions, recorded in 2004.

After a lukewarm start in January followed by a weak February - hit by the unusually late Lunar New Year this year, recruitment was particularly strong last month, with 31,834 positions advertised.

This is up by more than half compared with the 21,145 jobs posted in the same period last year.

Leading the growth in the first quarter was the hotel, catering and restaurant industry, which posted 2,493 more advertisements than in the same quarter of last year - an increase of 158 per cent from 1,576 ads.

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