Proof, as if it were needed, of just how dire the jobs market is at the moment has been provided by a new employment monitor, which shows that vacancies in Ireland have slumped by 70% compared to this time last year. But, there are some tentative signs things are starting to get better.

Recruiter Premier Group has kick-started an Irish Employment Monitor for the first quarter of this year, and it shows that there were 4,532 vacancies in April 2009, compared to 15,307 this time last year.

This, though, is the highest figure since January.

Strangely, as the chart below shows, the number of new candidates has also fallen, which suggests that people are largely staying put – understandable in the current climate.

Premier is the parent group of specialist financial recruiter Morgan McKinley, which runs a similar barometer in the UK, and has showed a cooling job market over the last year or so.

The Irish survey isn’t restricted to financial services, although these jobs make up a significant chunk of the vacancies, and includes other professions like commerce and industry, legal and insurance.

The financial industry, Trayc Keevans, manager, accountancy and finance division at Premier, tells us has been “very slow” over the last 12 months, but recently there’s been some “positive indicators of a relative increase in the appetite to hire”.

“Many of the larger financial institutions identifying existing skills gaps in their business and hiring to fulfil these requirements in order to best position themselves to capitalise on the upturn,” she says.