U.S. employers say they are more optimistic about hiring across all industries and geographies, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released by ManpowerGroup.
Based on the seasonally adjusted survey results, the Net Employment Outlook for the second quarter is up to 10 percent, an increase from 8 percent during the same period last year and from 9 percent during the first quarter. This growth represents the first double-digit metrics since the fourth quarter of 2008 when it was also 10 percent and 12 percentage points higher than the recessionary low of -2 percent in 2009.
Nine in 10 respondents say the expect to increase or make no changes to their hiring in the second quarter, and that rise in confidence marks 10 straight quarters of positive overall survey results when it was preceded by three quarters of pessimistic employment plans.
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Hiring intentions also improved among the states as employers in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia report positive hiring plans. North Dakota is still the leader leader of the states with a growth in job prospects as the Outlook rises from 14 percent in the first quarter to 26 percent in the second quarter. Alaska, Vermont, Delaware and Oklahoma all have strong jobs reports at above 20 percent.
"Our survey data for quarter two 2012 is particularly encouraging because the positive hiring intentions are widespread across states, regions and markets," says Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas. "Positive hiring intentions tell us that employers are seeing increased demand for their products and services, and that is good news for the labor market. Although we are not out of the woods yet, our data shows that this hiring progression is increasingly solid."
Among the respondents, 18 percent plan to add more employees during the second quarter. Only 6 percent of respondents expect to cut staff for a Net Employment Outlook of 12 percent. Another 72 percent of respondents project no changes in their hiring plans, and 4 percent of respondents remain undecided.
"It is well documented that this recovery is atypically slow," Prising says. "However, if we were able to see a time-lapse video of the recovery, we would see there is a noticeable positive trend. Compared to three years ago at this time, the seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook increased from -2 percent to +10 percent, which is considerable. The data tells us that the healing process is further along than most realize."
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