But while other states and territories recorded rises, vacancies in the ACT dropped 4.16 per cent.

The Olivier Job Index, which measures positions vacant ads on commercial job websites, grew 2.43per cent last month, the first real growth since May 2008.

''Job creation has turned a corner,'' Olivier Group director Robert Olivier said. ''We won't know when we'll see a net increase in employment, but for job-seekers this is a welcome change.''

The graduate job index rose 30.3per cent, offering fresh hope for students about to enter the workforce, he said. But it was still down 59 per cent on a year ago.

''The big graduate employers, major law and accounting firms, didn't recruit on campus earlier in the year as they usually do,'' he said. ''At that time, they waited to watch the economy. Now, they're back in the market.''

Mr Olivier said there were positive swings in part-time jobs, up 10.8 per cent, and casual work, up 11.5 per cent, but full-time jobs grew too. ''We hoped job ads bottomed out in July. August's figures added weight to that hope. We'd expect to see more economists revising peak unemployment predictions downwards.''

Western Australia bounced back strongest, adding almost 10 per cent more jobs in the month. NSW fell 1.25 per cent, reflecting the economic problems of the state.

Mr Olivier said sectors that had hurt the most had bounced back best. The financial services and banking sector, which fell first and fastest, grew 2.78 per cent last month. The strongest sub-sector was retail banking and mortgage, up 11.8 per cent.

''This reflects consumer confidence in the housing market and a pick-up in residential lending.''

He said transport jobs ads were up a whopping 19.15 per cent.

''Western Australia and Queensland topped the demand for people in transport, suggesting that confidence is returning to the resources states. The mining industry can be quick to offload workers and quick to hire again.''

Advertising and media job ads grew 9.62 per cent and human resource jobs by 4.7 per cent. Five sectors fell last month: health care by 5.28 per cent, education 4.24 per cent, engineering 2.96 per cent, IT 1.04per cent and building 1.15 per cent.