More than 6,000 companies are using Twitter to advertise job vacancies, according to the social networking site.

Businesses pay Tweet My Jobs to send listings to local job hunters interested in their sector. With the number of young people looking for employment rising - latest figures suggest that one in six 18-24 year olds are out of work - the site is a good way for firms to reach the younger demographic.

"We launched our job finding service in February, but its popularity has already exceeded expectations," said Gary Zukawski, president of Tweet My Jobs.

Twitter's popularity has soared in 2009, with visitors to the site growing by over 80% between March and April. The social networking site now has around 17m unique users.