Government jobs are still considered plum posts for university graduates and other jobseekers, if the latest official figures are anything to go by.

According to figures published on the Ministry of Personnel's website Wednesday, regarding the 2008 national civil servant recruitment examination, an average of 60 people applied for each advertised post.

More than 3,500 applied for the most popular position: A job with the Ministry of Agriculture. The deadline for the receipt of applications passed at the weekend.

Although the ministry did not provide a figure for the total number of applications received, a statement on the website said: "More than 800,000 applicants passed the first evaluation and will attend a nationwide examination on December 9."

Last year, more than 530,000 people applied for 12,700 jobs, an average of 42 per position.

The fiercest competition this year is for jobs with the Communist Party of China's central bodies, with 162 people competing for each post.

Positions at weather bureaux are the least popular. Forty-nine advertised posts with local weather bureaux in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan, among others, failed to attract a single application.

The civil service has become one of the most popular options because it is thought to offer a stable income, social status and good welfare benefits.

The written examination includes two sessions: The administrative aptitude test in the morning and the essay test in the afternoon, before a more competitive interview at the beginning of next year.