New associate hiring at the nation's largest law firms offered a rare bright spot in an otherwise ho-hum 2016 entry level legal job market.

Firms with 500 or more lawyers increased their hiring by an impressive 6 percent, while smaller firms brought aboard fewer new associates and all other job sectors similarly contracted, according to the latest analysis from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP).

The largest law firms hired 4,238 members of the class of 2016, compared with 4,007 new graduates who landed in large firm jobs in 2015, NALP found. Associate gigs at firms with 500 or more attorneys accounted for 25 percent of all law firm jobs secured by 2016 law grads, up from 23 percent the previous year.