Survey: U.S. Hiring Activity Stable

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Posted 9:02AM on Friday, August 30, 2002

MILWAUKEE (AP) - People looking for work won't see an increase in the number of job openings through the year's end as companies remain cautious about the economy's recovery, a new survey finds. Twenty-four percent of the companies surveyed expected to hire more people in the fourth quarter, while 9 percent plan to cut workers, according to Manpower Inc.'s quarterly survey of 16,000 businesses. The rest of the companies said they either expect to maintain their current staffing levels or were uncertain about hiring activity in the fourth quarter. Those numbers compare with 27 percent that expected to add more jobs and 8 percent that planned cuts in the third quarter. When seasonally adjusted, the fourth quarter's employment prospects remain stable. ``For the balance of the year, job seekers are still going to be challenged,'' said Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and chief executive of Glendale-based Manpower, the nation's biggest staffing company, which has conducted the survey for 26 years. Past surveys showed hiring prospects often plateau during an economic recovery, Joerres said. ``There's still cautiousness within the companies,'' he said. ``Given the economy continues to improve, albeit slowly, you'll see a bit of an acceleration after the pause.'' Employment levels will hold steady nationwide except in the West, which expects a slight decrease in hiring from the third quarter largely because the region is home to many struggling technology and telecommunications companies, Joerres said. The finance, insurance and real estate sector is the only one surveyed that anticipates improved hiring compared to last quarter and a year ago, the survey found. The manufacturing sector, hit hard by the recession, expects to maintain a consistent hiring level, which is a significant improvement over a year ago, Joerres said. The Midwest is leading the nation in the recovery of manufacturing jobs, while the South expects to experience higher demand for workers in the services sector. The national unemployment rate for July remained stuck at 5.9 percent with just 6,000 new jobs created last month as businesses were reluctant to hire back new workers because of corporate accounting scandals and the plunging stock market. ``Everybody took their baby step forward, but now they're just waiting to see what that next step is,'' said Doug Thomas, operations manager of TemPro Staffing of Green Bay. The employment agency has received fewer calls recently, both from businesses looking for workers and from people looking for jobs, he said. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the accounting scandals have affected different sectors at different times and are keeping companies cautious, said Kris Thompson, president of the National Human Resources Association. ``There's a lot more uncertainty existing right now than at this time last year,'' he said. ``Thank goodness the economy is holding on, because things could be a lot worse in light of what's happened.''