In December, the overall hiring scenario in India improved as recruitment activities picked up pace across various sectors, with bright job prospects forecast for this year, according to two reports.

Online job portal Monster.com’s employment index rose to 112 in December 2010 from 109 recorded in the previous month. Online recruitment site Naukri.com’s job index too climbed to 928 in December as compared to 922 in November 2010.

Both indices reflect the overall recruitment activities every month.

“Opportunities in the IT sector were up by 8 percent (in December 2010) above the November levels. Online opportunities in business process outsourcing (BPO)/information technology-enabled services (ITeS) sectors expanded 5 percent.

Online hiring in the retail sector continued to trend upward for the fourth month, adding 10 points in December,” Monster.com said in a statement.

Sanjay Modi, Monster.com’s managing director (India, Middle East, South East Asia), said online recruitment, especially in sectors like information technology (IT) and BPO/ITeS, ended the year on a high note.

Meanwhile, Naukri.com, which is part of Noida-Uttar Pradesh-based Info Edge (India), noted that the index for December indicated steady hiring levels and a positive sentiment among recruiters.

“The New Year 2011 brings renewed optimism in the employment scenario. Job seekers can look forward to happy times ahead as Job Street will start gaining momentum in the first quarter and accelerate by the middle of the year,” Info Edge (India)’s chief executive officer and managing director Hitesh Oberoi said in a separate statement.

According to Naukri.com, auto, oil & gas and construction sectors registered positive monthly growths of 8 percent, 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively in December.

According to the online portal, Hyderabad and Mumbai maintained strong hiring trends in December last year.