The number of new City jobs has reached its highest levels since August 2008, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Monitor.

The monitor reveals that new openings in London’s financial services industry rose 21% between February and March, up 83% on March last year.

The number of jobseekers rose by 22% in March , while the time taken for professionals to find a new job fell by four days to 60 days in March on the previous month.

The average City salary in March rose to £55,689, up 8% on February.

Andrew Evans, managing director of Morgan McKinley’s financial services division, says: “March was a very healthy month for City hiring, with job volumes reflecting the increased confidence and momentum in the financial services market.

“The last time new job vacancy numbers were at March 2010 levels was in August 2008, the month before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, however we are still not back to the levels of recruitment of 2006 and 2007.