Milwaukee, WI, Mar. 16--In the highest showing in three years, 28% of U.S. employers plan to add workers in the second quarter, according to a closely followed employment survey.
The survey, by Manpower Inc., could bolster the claim of President George W. Bush that his administration is indeed creating jobs--an issue that Democratic opponents have tried to use against him. Since the results are just projections, however, they aren't considered as significant as the monthly payroll numbers that the government reports.
The long-running survey has been tracking more upbeat employment prospects lately. The second quarter will mark the third consecutive period that more U.S. firms have indicated they plan to increase their hiring.
But the results aren't strong enough to signal an end to the nation's hiring slump, said Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and chief executive of the big staffing firm. "If you're looking for a job, it is still going to be a challenge, but it's going to be a bit easier," Joerres said.
The projections suggest the economy will get more new jobs during the second quarter than it did during the first quarter when seasonal differences are removed from the data. The survey's finding that 28% of U.S. employers plan to increase hiring activity for the April-to-June period is nearly twice the proportion of companies that boosted hiring during the same period last year. Sixty-two percent of employers don't plan to increase or reduce their work force, and 6% plan to get rid of workers. Four percent are undecided.
What the numbers show is that American companies can no longer meet the demand for goods and services with their current work forces. In the U.S., the wholesale/retail and construction sectors expect to see the most significant hiring increases, with the proportion of construction companies expected to add workers at its highest since the survey began in 1976. Education and public administration are seeing the least job growth as local governments struggle with budget reductions.
The survey predicts the Southern region of the U.S. will see the strongest job growth in the nation. The addition of manufacturing and finance jobs will help the region continue the stepped-up hiring that started two years ago. Hiring will be weakest in the Northeastern U.S., where mining companies plan to cut jobs.
Still, every region of the U.S. and all ten sectors of the economy are expected to see an improvement in hiring during the quarter.
The survey didn't look at the impact of outsourcing on the U.S. economy. Manpower, a staffing firm based in Milwaukee, WI, surveyed 35,000 employers for the report at the beginning of February.
In February, U.S. employers added 21,000 nonfarm jobs, and unemployment remained at 5.6%, the same level as the previous month, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of new jobs was far less than the 125,000 Wall Street observers had expected.
The Manpower report paints an improving picture of worldwide hiring. Companies in 18 of 19 countries surveyed plan to add more jobs than they plan to eliminate. For 13 of those countries, the job picture is more optimistic than it was last quarter. Japan plans to lead the job growth, with 29% of companies expecting to increase their hiring, and 9% expecting to cut jobs, thanks to growth in manufacturing and service companies. In Germany, 6% of companies plan to add workers, and 10% plan to reduce jobs, marking an improvement in a country that has struggled with job growth.
