Hiring expectations in US manufacturing are up for the ninth straight month in December when compared with the same month in the previous year, and service-sector hiring expectations are up for the seventh time in eight months, according to the leading indicators of national employment report released today by the Society for Human Resource Management.

The report’s survey found 40.3 percent of service-sector companies plan to hire in December while 7.0 percent plan to reduce their workforces for a net increase of 33.3 percent, up from a net increase of 28.9 percent in December 2013.

Among manufacturing employers, 48.9 percent plan to add staff in December and 9.0 percent plan to cut their workforces for a net increase of 39.9 percent, a four-year high for the month and up from the net increase of 31.6 percent in December 2013.

Additionally, November marked the ninth consecutive month that HR professionals experienced greater recruiting difficulty for key positions in both the manufacturing and service sectors compared to the previous year, according to the report. A net of 31.1 percent of manufacturing respondents said they had difficulty with recruiting in November, the highest amount since May 2006. A net of 31.1 percent of service-sector organizations also reported difficulty, which is the highest amount since SHRM began data collection for that sector in October 2005.

The report is based on a survey of human resource executives at more than 500 manufacturing and 500 service-sector firms.