Hiring expectations in US manufacturing are up for the seventh straight month in October, and service-sector hiring expectations are up for the fifth time in six months in October, according to the leading indicators of a national employment report released today by the Society for Human Resource Management. Both manufacturing and service sector hiring expectations reached a high this month when compared with the previous three months of October.

The report’s survey found that 52.2 percent of manufacturing companies plan to hire in October while 6.8 percent plan to reduce their workforces for a net increase of 45.4 percent. That’s up from a net increase of 41.9 percent in October 2013.

Among service-sector employers, 47.5 percent plan to add staff in October and 6.8 percent plan to cut their workforces for a net increase of 40.7 percent, up from a net increase of 37.3 percent in October 2013.

“With many organizations hiring, competition for the best candidates may be heating up,” said Jennifer Schramm, manager of workforce trends at SHRM. “The difficulty filling key jobs may be why rates for some new-hire positions improved in September for both the manufacturing and service sectors.”