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Good news for college grads in Accounting & Finance: Hiring is up from last year, and so are starting salaries.

Employers have more opportunities for the college Class of 2010 than they did a year ago, according to a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).    

NACE’s Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update shows employers expect to hire 5.3 percent more new college graduates in 2009-10 than they did in 2008-09.    

“This is the first positive hiring outlook for new college graduates since October of 2008,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.   

In October 2008, employers projected a 1.3 percent in hiring for the Class of 2009. That increase fell later in the fall of 2008 as the stock market and economy fell. College hiring has been in negative territory every since, hitting bottom in the Job Outlook 2009 Spring Update, when employers reported hiring 22 percent fewer new graduates in 2009 than they hired in 2008.   

Accounting services, engineering services, and retail/wholesale trade employers top the list of employers extending offers to 2009-10 bachelor’s degree graduates.    

Starting salary offers to the college Class of 2010 are down compared to last year at this time. The Spring 2010 issue of NACE’s Salary Survey shows the overall average salary offer to a bachelor’s degree candidate is $47,673, which is 1.7 percent lower than the average offer of $48,515 made to Class of 2009 bachelor’s degree candidates.     

Both finance and accounting majors saw their average salary offers rise. The average offer to finance majors rose by 1.6 percent to $50,546, and the average offer to accounting majors inched up by 0.4 percent to $48,575.