US hiring plans for the fourth quarter of this year are the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the fourth-quarter 2015 Manpower employment outlook survey released today by ManpowerGroup Inc. (NYSE: MAN). Globally, employer hiring intentions are most upbeat in the Americas and among the strongest globally, exceeded only by employers in India, Taiwan and Japan.

ManpowerGroup’s survey found 21% of US employers plan to increase staff in the fourth quarter, 6% plan to decrease staff, 71% expect no change in staff and 2% responded “didn’t know.” That equals a net employment outlook of 18% — when seasonally adjusted. In comparison, the third-quarter employment outlook was 16% with seasonal adjustment.

“The US labor market continues to show broad-based, stable growth, with significant milestones over time such as hiring prospects at a seven-year high, unemployment at 5.1% and weekly jobless claims recently reaching a 40-year low,” said ManpowerGroup CEO Jonas Prising. “But as the labor market tightens, employers are increasingly telling us they are having difficulty finding skilled candidates — a situation not helped by the low labor participation rate.”

Employers in Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Arizona and South Carolina indicated the strongest net employment outlooks while Alaska, Wyoming, Illinois and Arkansas project the weakest outlooks.

Employers in all 13 industry sectors reported a net positive outlook. The industries with the highest seasonally adjusted net employment outlooks are leisure and hospitality at 27%; wholesale and retail trade at 21%; professional and business services at 20%; and transportation and utilities at 20%. Mining and “other services” had the lowest seasonally adjusted net employment outlooks at 4% and 8% respectively.

All four US regions surveyed reported a positive net employment outlook. Employers in the Midwest, South and West regions report the strongest seasonally adjusted outlook at 17%. And although Northeast employers report a slightly weaker outlook at 16%, hiring plans for the region are stronger than at any point since the second quarter of 2007.

ManpowerGroup’s employment outlook survey includes responses from more than 11,000 US employers.

Canada hiring trends

Canadian employers anticipate a modest hiring climate in the fourth quarter, with employers in the wholesale and retail trade sector reporting the strongest outlooks.

In Canada, 11% of employers expect to increase staffing levels, 9% anticipate a decrease, 77% forecast no change and 3% are unsure about hiring plans. This results in a net employment outlook of 6% on a seasonally adjusted basis, a three percentage point decrease from both the second-quarter outlook and the outlook in the fourth quarter of 2014.

“As of July, unemployment remained unchanged for six consecutive months, while employment is up by 0.9% compared to this time last year,” said Michelle Dunnill, Manpower area manager for Toronto, Mississauga and Markham. “We have also noted an increase in fulltime work, a positive change from recent quarters. However, we are hearing some concerns regarding the market’s instability, leading to some employers holding off on hiring.”

Employers in Atlantic Canada expect the most upbeat hiring climate for the coming quarter, reporting a net employment outlook of 12%. Employers in Ontario reported an outlook of 8%, while employers in Quebec and Western Canada reported outlooks of 7% and 4%, respectively.

The transportation and public utilities industry reported the highest seasonally adjusted outlook at 14%, followed by finance, insurance and real estate at 12%. Mining posted the lowest outlook at -2%, followed by manufacuturing-non-durables at 1% and manufacturing-durables at 2%.

ManpowerGroup’s employment outlook survey includes responses from more than 1,900 Canadian employers.