Saturday, June 21, 2008

Manpower survey forecasts strong hiring in Albany area, softer hiring nationally


A third of the companies in the Albany, N.Y., region expect to hire during the third quarter, according to the latest Manpower Inc. survey.
The survey said from July to September, 33 percent of companies interviewed planned to hire, while 12 percent expect to reduce payrolls, Manpower reported. The survey found 51 percent of companies interviewed planned to maintain current staffing levels, and 4 percent were uncertain about their hiring plans. The companies surveyed are located in Albany, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Troy, Glens Falls, and Fulton and Montgomery counties.
Nationally, it appears likely the job market will continue to soften in coming months. Manpower said its employment gauge fell to 12 for July through September, the lowest level since the last three months of 2003. The reading in the prior quarter was 14.
According to government figures, companies trimmed payrolls for the last five months. Even so, the Manpower survey doesn't expect drastic job cuts.
Manpower's index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers planning to cut jobs from those who plan to add staff, and adjusts the results for seasonal variations.
In all, 26 percent of U.S. employers plan to add jobs in the third quarter. About 10 percent plan to cut their payrolls in the July-September quarter. Most of them, some 58 percent, expected no change in the hiring pace and a small number were undecided about hiring.
The Manpower survey is conducted quarterly and has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.8 percentage points for U.S. data and plus or minus 3.9 for national, regional and global data.

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