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Manpower: U.S. Employer Confidence Grows

March 08, 2011

Confidence among U.S. employers is growing, according to the new second-quarter employment outlook survey of 18,000 U.S. employers released today by Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN).

Sixteen percent of U.S. employers expect their staff levels to increase in the second quarter while six percent expect decreases for a net employment outlook of 10 percent (or 8 percent seasonally adjusted), according to the survey. Seventy-four percent planned no change and four percent did not know. This survey marks the sixth straight quarter of positive outlooks. The seasonally adjusted net employment outlook of 8 percent for the second quarter is up from 6 percent in the second quarter of last year.

Employers throughout the United States report they plan to hire in the second quarter of this year, significant hiring increases planned for 33 of the 50 states, according to the report.

"Nearly all of the of the key data points in our survey show that employers are positive, but hiring plans are still reserved due to their continued ability to manage the slowly increasing demand with the existing workforce," said Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas. "In the U.S., we are holding on to hard-won job gains and waiting for the time when the growth in demand for goods and services will require more substantial workforce additions."

Employers in each of the 13 industries surveyed report positive outlooks for the second quarter, and employers in 10 report net hiring plans. The remaining three plan to keep staff at their current levels, according to the survey. Employers in each geographic region report a positive employment outlook.