For the first time in a year, jobsite Monster’s Employment Index for Belgium saw a rise in online recruitment activity, with substantial yearly rises in online ads in the education, training & library, marketing, PR & media and sales sectors aiding growth.

The Monster Employment Index (MEI) score for September stood at 104, a rise from the 102 level registered both in August and in September 2011 – the first time in 12 months that year-on-year growth has been registered, and only the fifth monthly gain in the past 18 months.

Top sectors for online recruitment growth were:

• Education, training & library (up 22% year-on-year)

• Marketing, PR & media (20%)

• Sales (15%)

• Management & consulting (7%)

• IT (5%)

Declines of over 10% were seen in the research & development, public sector, defence & community and transport, post & logistics sectors.

Growth was seen in the Walloon Region, while Brussels-Capital and the Flemish region showed marginal declines.