WORKPLACE Manpower survey: Hiring to rise slightly

The survey said 22 percent of employers expect to add staff in the fourth quarter.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Hiring will improve slightly nationwide in the last few months of the year, but not enough to make much difference to job seekers, according to a survey by staffing company Manpower Inc.
Companies anticipate a small increase in hiring in the fourth quarter of 2003, which would reverse a downward trend that started in the first quarter, according to Manpower's quarterly survey of 16,000 businesses, which was to be released today.
"There will still be a lot of angst and difficulty in finding a job," said Jeffrey Joerres, Manpower's chief executive officer and chairman. "The market is still tight, companies are still cautious, but there is enough demand in their own organizations that they'll have to relieve that pressure a bit by hiring some people."
The survey found 22 percent of companies expect to hire more people in the fourth quarter, while 11 percent intend to cut jobs. The rest anticipate no change or are uncertain about hiring prospects in the period from October to December.
Some improvement
The results, when seasonally adjusted, mark the first improvement in job prospects since the first quarter of 2003 but still are not as strong as they were a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2002, 24 percent expected to hire more people and 9 percent planned to cut workers.
"We have had a lot of false starts over the last two years, and this may prove to be that as well," Joerres said.
Manpower, which is based in Glendale, Wis., and is the nation's largest staffing company, started the survey more than 40 years ago.
John Tirinzonie, a labor economist with the Connecticut Department of Labor, also anticipates a small hiring increase in the fourth quarter as companies are forced to bring on more workers because of rising demand. He said the job market probably won't register significant improvement until the second quarter of 2004.
"Certainly by the spring we think it will improve enough where it's going to be easier for the job seeker," Tirinzonie said.
6.1 percent jobless rate
Companies continued to lay off workers even after the U.S. economy officially pulled out of recession in November 2001. The nation's unemployment rate stood at 6.1 percent in August.
The National Association for Business Economics released a report Monday predicting the U.S. economy will start to rebound as businesses begin to hire back workers in the final quarter of the year.
According to Manpower's survey, employers in the South reported the most optimistic job prospects for the fourth quarter compared with those elsewhere.
Manufacturers continue to struggle with hiring, while the finance, insurance and real estate sector is particularly upbeat about jobs, the survey found.