Survey: 27% of area employers plan to hire in 4Q

From October to December, 27 percent of surveyed companies plan to hire more employees, and 73 percent plan to maintain their current staff levels. No respondents cited plans to reduce their work forces.

The projected hiring activity is more positive than the previous quarter, when 23 percent expected to add staff members and 3 percent planned to reduce payrolls. It’s also an improvement from fourth-quarter 2005, when 27 percent planned to hire and 7 percent planned to cut back.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in durable and nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation/public utilities, wholesale/retail trade, services and public administration. Hiring in construction, finance/insurance/real state and education is expected to remain the same.

The Manpower survey has been conducted quarterly for 40 years in 470 U.S. markets.[[In-content Ad]]