Jobs in the financial services industry are approaching levels achieved during the dot-com boom, according to a survey by the financial cons...

Jobs in the financial services industry are approaching levels achieved during the dot-com boom, according to a survey by the financial consultancy, the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Employment in the City of London is forecast to rise by 4,000 to 320,000 on average this year and to reach 325,000 in 2006, topping the previous peak of 324,000 in 2000, the height of the Internet stock boom. City of London employment levels dropped sharply after the Internet stock bubble burst after 2000. They hit a low point in 2002 of 305,000, according to CEBR numbers. Banks' payrolls have been recovering since then, but the City has not seen a return to the strong levels of hiring seen in 1999/2000 when M&A and equity market activity was at record levels. If there are no upsets in world financial markets, the City of London could see job numbers growing to 339,000 by the end of the decade, according to the CEBR. Fund management has been adding jobs at a faster rate than any other part of the international financial sector in the City of London on the back of growth of hedge funds. This growth is expected to slow as the CEBR sees slower job growth as hedge funds have suffered serious performance setbacks this spring. Jobs are set to increase in this sector this year by 1.5 per cent to 40,000. Last year corporate finance saw only modest growth in jobs after the M&A market slowed down in the second half of the year. "This year we expect it to be more vigorous, with a resulting 1.4 per cent jobs growth leading to a total of 13,000 jobs in 2005," CEBR said.