A new survey shows government agencies received 10 per cent more online job applications over the past 12 months than in the previous year, but had 30 per cent fewer vacancies.

On average, about 20 people applied for every public service job advertised.

While the results suggest Canberra's labour market is tightening, a similar national survey of public and private-sector recruitment revealed a 60 per cent increase in online job applications.

Recruitment company NGA.NET's chief executive, Mike Giuffrida, whose company measures online job ads and applications, said the results suggested the bureaucracy had been cushioned from the impact of the worsening economy.

''We're interpreting this to show that the private sector is being hit harder than the public sector,'' he said yesterday. ''The public sector does seem more resilient in this economic climate.''

The ACT's unemployment rate is 2.4 per cent, the lowest in Australia, and compares with a national rate of 4.4 per cent.

But the federal bureaucracy is bracing for a brutal May budget, including the possibility of thousands of job losses.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner has demanded that public servants find more productive ways to work, and refuses to rule out imposing extra cuts on government agencies during 2009-10.

Mr Giuffrida, whose company provides online recruitment software to 95 per cent of federal agencies, said the increased competition was benefiting the bureaucracy. ''It's good news for public service managers,'' he said.

''The feedback we're getting is that there's an opportunity now for these organisations to attract people to their agencies where it's been very difficult in the past.''