The Monster Employment Index Europe grew by two points in October as online job availability across Europe increased for a second consecutive month. European online worker demand reached a new Index-high as France, Sweden and the Netherlands edged higher while Germany and the United Kingdom both saw slight declines. Year-on-year, the Index grew 23 points, or 18 percent.

Sectors showing strong growth last month included banking, finance and insurance, which reported its first Europe-wide, increase since May. The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across Europe, including Monster.

"The rise in EU online hiring activity in October indicates that the European economy is sustaining its strong pace of expansion into the final quarter of the year," said Andrea Bertone, Regional Director, Monster Worldwide Europe. "With unemployment rates across Europe continuing to decline and employers increasingly using the Internet to advertise their job vacancies, it is not surprising that online recruitment is trending upward."