In the third quarter, 24% of employers plan to add full-time employees, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com and USA Today. That's down slightly from the second quarter when 26% of employers said they added full-time staff.

"It's a slower job market, but we're not seeing aggressive declines in employment levels reminiscent of 2001," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com.

Thirty-four percent of employers slowed their hiring pace this year compared to 2007 because of uncertainties around the economy, according to the survey. But 19% of employers expect the economy to improve in the second half of this year and 32% anticipate an improvement in the first half of 2009.

The survey questioned 2,922 hiring managers and human resources professionals and 7,960 workers in the private sector.