American businesses are upbeat about hiring prospects in the next quarter, with nearly a third saying they plan to hire more people this summer, a new jobs survey shows.
More than half the employers surveyed in the United States by global staffing firm Manpower Inc., foresee no change in employment, while 31 percent expect total employment to increase in the third quarter, according to a survey set for release Tuesday. Six percent forecast a decrease.
The results of the survey of 16,000 employers were virtually unchanged from last quarter's survey, when 30 percent forecast an increase and 7 percent saw a drop.
Firms' hiring expectations have been stable for six quarters, said Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Manpower.
"This indicates that employers are hiring on an as-needed basis, but are still not ready to staff up until demand for their business truly requires it," Joerres said in a release.
Manpower said workers in the South had the best hiring prospects, while workers in the Midwest had the least.
The seasonally adjusted net employment outlook, the difference between firms expecting to increase employment and those expecting to decrease it, was unchanged at 21 percent.