Headhunter upbeat.

The overall job market may not be growing the way economists would like, but there's been enough activity in the executive recruitment ranks to boost the shares of Korn/Ferry International by more than 10 percent last week after the company reported better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.

For the period ended Jan. 31, Korn/Ferry posted net income of $3.9 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.6 million (7 cents) for the like period a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been expecting, on average, profits of 5 cents a share.

Fee revenues rose 8 percent for the third quarter to $81.4 million versus $75.5 million in the like year-ago period.

"With the strength in corporate profits and overall economic expansion, we continue to witness a recovery in the executive recruitment business," Paul C. Reilly, chairman and chief executive of Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry, said in a press release.

Korn/Ferry also said it expects to earn between 10 cents and 16 cents a share in the current fourth quarter; analysts polled by Thomson First Call were estimating 10 cents.

After the report came out on March 10, Korn/Ferry shares rose $1.06, or 8.9 percent, to $13.26, after rising as high as $13.90 on a down market day.

The prices approached the 52-week high of $13.98 set in late January, when the economy was showing signs that job growth would finally kick in. In the past year, Korn/Ferry's shares have traded as low as $6.15 each.