Hiring expectations in US manufacturing rose for the 11th consecutive month in February when compared with the same month in the previous year. However, service-sector hiring expectations are down, according to the leading indicators of a national employment report released today by the Society for Human Resource Management.

The report’s survey found 50.6% of service-sector companies plan to hire in February while 13.9% plan to reduce their workforces for a net increase of 36.7%, down from a net increase of 44.8% in February 2014.

Among manufacturing employers, 57.2% plan to add staff in February and 6.7% plan to cut their workforces for a net increase of 50.5%, up from a net increase of 47.2% percent in February 2014 and a four-year high for the month.

Additionally, January marked the 11th consecutive month that recruiting difficulty rose in both sectors when compared with the previous year. A net of 24.8% of manufacturing respondents said they had more difficulty with recruiting in January, up from 7.6% in the same month in 2014. A net of 14.4% of service-sector organizations also reported difficulty, up from 6.0% in January 2014 a year ago.

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