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Report - Hiring slows from year ago

February 27, 2008

Fewer employers in both the manufacturing and service sectors plan to add staff in March compared with a year ago, according to the leading indicator of national employment index (LINE) report from the Society for Human Resource Management and Rutgers University.

The index's survey found that 37.7% of service sector employers plan to increase staff in March while 11.3% plan to cut, for a net increase of 26.4%. That's down from a net increase of 55.9% in March 2007.

In manufacturing, the net increase in hiring was 31.8% for March, down from 50.1% a year ago.

Also, fewer manufacturing and service sector employers reported increasing new-hire compensation in February. In manufacturing, 7.7% of employer increased new-hire compensation in February compared to 9.1% who increased new hire compensation in February 2007. In the service sector, 6.2% of employers reported increased new-hire pay compared with 8.9% a year ago.

The LINE report surveys human resources executives at more than 500 manufacturing companies and more than 500 service-sector firms.