There's good news for the Class of 1998 this spring--the strongest job market in years.

According to a study published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), hires of recent college graduates will swell by nearly 20 percent next year, with increases in starting salaries projected across the board.

Continued economic growth and low inflation seem to be the causes of this optimism in hiring, according to NACE Director of Employment Information Camille A. Luckenbaugh.

"It's pretty much that business is booming," she said.

Graduates with technical backgrounds will be the most sought-after, particularly those with skills in computer science and engineering. Increasingly, employers in the computer software and data processing fields are snapping up as many new employees as they can who have the technical abilities, no matter what their college majors were, Luckenbaugh said.

"Everyone should get some technical background.... If you can't get a position in your field, if you have technical knowlege, it may help you down the line," she said.

But English majors of the world should take heart: the biggest increases in starting wages is for liberal-arts majors, according to the survey.

In non-technical fields, firms specializing in consulting and marketing are reporting the largest increases.

At Harvard, this expansion has translated into much higher interest in the on-campus recruiting program, the Office of Career Services (OCS) Career Forum and other ways of directly targeting Harvard students, according to OCS Director Bill Wright-Swadel. Two years ago, 215 firms recruited on campus. Last year it was 360 and this year the numbers are even stronger.

"We turned a lot of people away from the Career Forum--we just didn't have space," Wright-Swadel said.

The trend of increasing aggressiveness in recruiting is playing out nationwide, Luckenbaugh said. On average, every employer who responded to the survey has increased the number of campuses it visits by two.

"We hear from our representatives that interviewing rooms are booked solid," she said.

What the employers are looking for are well-rounded applicants with good communications skills. As might be expected, those who do their homework on the company before the interview are at a significant advantage, Luckenbaugh said.

Many employers also said they are looking for students who have strong work experience either through co-op or internship programs, according to the survey.

The biggest gains are being reported by firms in the West, South and Midwest--not the Eastern seaboard, according to the survey. In fact, growth in the West is nearly three times as high as that on the East Coast.

NACE--based in Bethlehem, PA--conducts this survey annually among its member employers, which span the manufacturing, service and government sectors.

This year, 27 percent of the firms contacted responded to the survey, an alltime high, Luckenbaugh said.

All in all, nearly 70 percent of employers who responded to the survey said they would be hiring more recent college graduates this year than last year.

"It's a really great time to be a college graduate," Luckenbaugh said