FOR the first time in two years, many job seekers may have reason to feel hopeful. Employers are beginning to hire again — or at least think about it.

Although the unemployment rate remained at 9.7 percent in March, and many economists expect the rate to stay high for some time, there are now some very positive signs. And they go well beyond other government figures showing that employers added 162,000 nonfarm jobs for the month.

The shift is most apparent in job postings, which have begun to surge. Indeed.com, which collects job listings from thousands of sources, reported a 19 percent increase in postings in March, versus the same month last year.

The number of postings rose in 10 of 12 industry categories. (The only category that declined was health care, one of the few bright spots during the recession.) The industries that showed the biggest uptick in March openings were retail, up 42 percent; hospitality, 33 percent; and media and newspapers, 30 percent.