U.S. employers’ hiring plans stay at lowest since at least ’89
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Just 15% of U.S. employers expect to boost hiring in the third quarter, while 13% expect to reduce staffing and 67% expect no change in worker count, a new survey of more than 28,000 employers shows.
From Bloomberg News:
U.S. employers’ hiring plans for the third quarter held at a record low, signaling fired workers will have to wait many more months to find a job. Manpower Inc., the world’s second-largest provider of temporary workers, said its employment gauge for July through September was minus 2 after adjusting for seasonal variations, matching the second quarter’s reading as the lowest since data began in 1989. Companies are ‘treading slowly and watching with guarded optimism, hoping a few quarters of stability will be the precursor to the recovery,’ Jonas Prising, president of the Americas for Milwaukee-based Manpower, said in a statement. The report underscores forecasts that unemployment will keep climbing even as firings subside. The Labor Department reported last week that the U.S. lost 345,000 jobs in May, the fewest in eight months, while the jobless rate surged to the highest level in almost 26 years.
A year ago, before the economy fell off a cliff, 26% of employers in the Manpower survey said they were expecting to add staff, while 10% were planning cuts and 58% saw no change in staffing levels.
Still, Manpower said, it was an encouraging sign in the new survey that the percentage of employers projecting more job cuts dipped to 13% from 14% in the second-quarter survey.
‘While the numbers may not be as optimistic as we would like, it is positive to see no further deterioration,’ said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower’s chief executive, in a statement.
Among 13 major industry sectors, leisure and hospitality showed the highest expectations for hiring: 28% of employers in that sector said they anticipated adding staff in the third quarter.
Tied for second were the construction sector and the professional and business services sector, with 19% of employers in both industries saying they expected to boost hiring.
Go here for the full report.
-- Tom Petruno