Hiring expectations in US manufacturing rose for the 12th straight month in March when compared with the same month in the previous year, according to the leading indicators of a national employment report released today by the Society for Human Resource Management. Service-sector hiring expectations also edged up.

The report’s survey found 53.9% of manufacturing companies plan to hire in March while 9.4% plan to reduce their workforces for a net increase of 44.5%, down from a net increase of 39.3% in March 2014.

Among service-sector companies, 51.2% plan to add staff in March and 7.2% plan to cut their workforces for a net increase of 44.0%, up from a net increase of 41.6% percent in March 2014 and a four-year high for the month.

Layoff rates will also rise in both sectors compared with March 2013.

Additionally, March marked the 10th consecutive month that recruiting difficulty reached a four-year high for the month. A net of 26.0% of manufacturing respondents said they had more difficulty with recruiting in February, up from 7.2% in the same month in 2014. A net of 13.7% of service-sector organizations also reported difficulty, up from 10.3% in February of last year.

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