U.S. employers have strong plans to increase employment in the fourth quarter, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey from Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup.
According to the survey of more than 11,000 U.S. employers, 21 percent expect to increase staff levels in the fourth quarter, which is the survey’s strongest hiring outlook since the fourth quarter of 2007. In the fourth quarter of 2014, 19 percent of employers planned to increase hiring.
The fourth quarter outlook also showed just 6 percent of those surveyed expect to decrease staff levels in the fourth quarter, down from 7 percent a year ago. Another 71 percent expect to maintain current staff levels, down from 72 percent in the same period last year. And 2 percent are unsure of their hiring plans, which was flat year-over-year.
When seasonal variations are removed, the net employment outlook stood at +18 percent, up from 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The regional hiring outlook was at 17 percent in the Midwest, even with the South and the West. The industries with the biggest hiring plans are leisure and hospitality, wholesale and retail trade, professional and business services, and transportation and utilities.
Globally, hiring is uneven because of varying conditions, the survey revealed.
“The U.S. labor market continues to show broad-based, stable growth, with significant milestones over time, such as hiring prospects at a seven-year high, unemployment at 5.3 percent and weekly jobless claims recently reaching a 40-year low,” said Jonas Prising, chief executive officer of ManpowerGroup. “But as the labor market tightens, employers are increasingly telling us they are having difficulty finding skilled candidates – a situation not helped by the low labor participation rate.”
