MILWAUKEE – Employers in the Northeast expect hiring conditions to be “slightly weaker” in the third quarter, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today. Nationwide, the outlook was the bleakest in nearly five years, but reflects a slowdown rather than massive layoffs, the temporary employment company said.
Among respondents in the Northeast, 28 percent said they expect to hire more workers in the third quarter than the second, while 11 percent expect to pare staff. Fifty-six percent expect to maintain level staffing, while 5 percent are uncertain of their plans.
Little change in hiring from second-quarter levels was predicted by employers in non-durable goods manufacturing and public administration. Employers in the other eight industry sectors – durable goods manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; construction; transportation and public utilities; finance, real estate and insurance; education; services; and mining – all were less optimistic about hiring in the third quarter than in the second.
Yet the region’s seasonally adjusted net employment outlook for the third quarter of 13 percent was still the second-best score nationwide – after the South (14 percent) and ahead of the Midwest (12 percent) and the West (8 percent) – and was higher than the national score.
The U.S. hiring outlook dimmed slightly to a seasonally adjusted 12 percent – the lowest score since the final quarter of 2003 – from 14 percent in the second, Manpower found.
Among the more than 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 26 percent expect to hire more workers in the third quarter while 10 percent expect to pare staff. Fifty-eight percent of U.S. respondents expect no change from their current hiring pace in the July to September period, while the other 6 percent are undecided.
Compared with the second quarter, job prospects nationwide improved only in mining, Manpower found. Slight decreases in hiring were planned by employers in five of 10 industry sectors: non-durable goods manufacturing; transportation and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance and real estate; and education. Level staffing was planned by employers in the other four sectors: construction; durable goods manufacturing; services; and public administration.
Compared with a year ago, however, “only mining employers anticipate stable conditions for job seekers in the coming quarter,” Manpower said, while the other nine sectors all predict staffing levels will fall.
“While overall softness continues in the third quarter, employers are generally not reacting with large-scale payroll reductions,” Manpower Inc. CEO Jeffrey A. Joerres said in a statement, according to Bloomberg News. “The gradual slowdown suggests that employers have become sophisticated at anticipating their hiring needs.”
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey has been compiled each quarter for more than 45 years. The U.S. survey – part of a global survey of more than 55,000 public and private employers in 32 nations and territories – has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.8 percent. Regional and other national results may have a margin of error as high as plus or minus 3.9 percent, the company said.
Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is a global $18 billion work force recruitment, training, assessment, outplacement and consulting company. Results of its global Manpower Employment Outlook Survey are available at www.manpower.com.
