The Indian job market continued to show resilience and stability, according to the Naukri JobSpeak job index. It rose 2% year over year to an index level of 2,762 in January.

Naukri reported the 2% growth is noteworthy as it has been recorded despite a 25% decline in IT sector hiring. The dip in IT sector hiring has been more or less compensated by a hiring spree in the non-IT sectors such as insurance, oil, hospitality and banking.

The insurance industry dominated with a 93% increase in its index level. The other non-IT industries that recorded an upward trend in hiring activity include oil, up 55%; hospitality, up 53%; banking, up 37%; real estate, up 31%; auto, up 29%; BPO, up 16%; and healthcare, up 10%.

“As the year begins, non-IT sectors hold the fort for hiring activity in India with insurance, oil and hospitality flying high, said Pawan Goyal, chief business officer, Naukri.com. “Interestingly, IT-linked metros, which were the main growth drivers last year, were overshadowed by emerging cities like Ahmedabad and Baroda. Overall, this gives a multi-dimensional outlook to the Indian job market and makes us optimistic about the new year.”

Ahmedabad leads the way in hiring trends, recording 40% growth in new job creation compared to last year, mainly driven by the insurance and healthcare sectors. Baroda follows with 37% growth in new job creation dominated by the banking and construction sectors.