Demand for permanent staff increased last month, offset by a fall in temporary jobs, according to new research among employment agencies.
A survey of 400 employment firms showed that the growth in permanent placements reached its highest peak for nine months.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG said the study showed that the biggest demand for permanent staff was for computing jobs.
Kevin Green, REC's Chief Executive said the labour market was improving, adding: "Jobseekers should take heart that there are vacancies out there.
"Slowly, private sector employers are becoming more confident as the gloom, caused by a slowing economy late last year and fears about the eurozone, recedes.
"The temporary market has shown a slight decline since January and is essentially flat. However, agency work continues to provide an important outlet for employers and jobseekers with over a million temporary workers placed on assignments in any given week.
"We are seeing high demand in professional roles such as IT, engineering, legal and HR and chefs continue to be in demand within the hospitality sector. The other sector which seems buoyant is nursing, medical and care.
"We believe this is because NHS trusts are recognising that using high quality temporary staff when they are needed is a cost effective solution to maintaining a quality service when budgets are being squeezed."
Bernard Brown of KPMG added: "The latest report raises hopes of a Spring revival in the jobs market with a second successive monthly rise in the number of people securing permanent roles and the data also indicating that February saw the rate of growth accelerating to a nine-month high.
"Put alongside recent news which suggested that the last unemployment figures represented the smallest rise in almost a year and there may be signs that the market is displaying early signs of recovery."
