The vacancies for skilled labor rose by 2.4 per cent during the month of March, latest data shows.

The skilled vacancies index was at 46.7 points, which is 11.8 per cent higher than the data for March 2008. This data was given by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The good thing is that this is the first time since February 2007.

Two out of three occupations, which were monitored by the group, saw a rise.

As for the Internet vacancy index, it rose by 3.7 per cent to become 69.9 points. It was, however, 11.3 per cent lesser than the figure for February 2009.

Most of this rise was seen in the marketing and advertising segment. The sector witnessed a rise of 13.7 per cent. Health professionals suffered the most and the number of vacancies in it went down by 4.4 per cent.

While the associate professional segment rose by 1.8 per cent, the same for the professionals went down by 0.2 per cent. Trades increased by 3.0 per cent.

Most of the states that were considered in the study showed an increase, however, it was the Northern Territory which showed the maximum rise.