Law firms top the league for graduate starting salaries and are predicted to recruit more graduates this year than in 2008 - bucking the national trend. These are among the key findings of the bi-annual survey of the jobs market by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

Law firms paid graduates a median starting salary of £37,000 last year, which is £2,000 more than second-placed investment banking and £12,000 more than the median across all sectors. Law firm starting salaries are expected to remain unchanged in 2009, unlike banking, accountancy and IT paypackets, which are expected to fall.

Graduate recruitment in the legal sector is set to grow by 2% in 2009, in stark contrast to a 28% drop in investment banking and a 6% drop in accountancy. Almost half the organisations surveyed expect to hire fewer graduates this year, with employers predicting a 5.4% decrease in vacancies overall – the first fall since 2003.

The AGR report is based on the responses of 245 of the country’s graduate recruiters across 12 sectors employing 21,144 graduates. The research was carried out at the end of last year and updated in mid-January.