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Healthy Job Market Predicted for Warren/Youngstown Area
WARREN, Ohio -- Warren/Youngstown area employers expect to hire at a strong pace during the first quarter of 2005, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. From January to March, 23% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 3% expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower district manager Dennis Yurco.Another 71% expect to maintain their current staff levels and 3% are not certain of their hiring plans."In the Warren/Youngstown area, employers expect slightly more hiring activity than in the fourth quarter when 20% of the companies interviewed intended to increase headcount, and 3% planned to decrease it," said Yurco. "Employers are more optimistic about hiring than they were a year ago when 20% of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and 10% intended to cut back."For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in Finance/Insurance/Real Estate and Services. Durable Goods Manufacturers voice mixed hiring intentions. Hiring in Construction, Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation/Public Utilities, Wholesale/Retail Trade, Education and Public Administration is expected to remain unchanged.Other areas in the northeast Ohio region include Akron, where 43% of employers plan to increase the size of their work force over the next quarter; Canton (33%); and Cleveland-Lorain/Elyria (22%). National results of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the first quarter of 2005 predict a slight boost in the hiring pace. Of the 16,000 U.S. employers that were surveyed, 24% anticipate and increase in hiring activity for the first quarter, while 10% expect to decrease staff levels. Some 59% foresee no change in job prospects, and 7% are unsure of their hiring plans. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the outlook for the first three months of 2005 reveals that employer confidence is expected to inch upward from last quarter and improve greatly from a year ago.A quarter-over-quarter comparison shows that Construction, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate, Public Administration and Mining employers are ready to increase their payrolls for first quarter, while those in Education plan to slow the hiring pace. Job levels in five of the 10 industry sectors surveyed are expected to remain consistent with fourth quarter hiring. These sectors include Durable and Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation/Public Utilities, Wholesale/Retail Trade and Services. "First quarter hiring expectations for the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sector are a particular point of interest," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Manpower chairman and chief executive officer. "Nearly 25 years have passed since employers in this sector were so eager to take on additional staff. Construction is a bright spot in the first quarter job outlook.After scaling back their hiring plans in the latter half of 2004, Construction employers plan to pick up the hiring pace as they enter 2005."Job seekers are likely to find that the South is the U.S. region that holds the most favorable hiring climate for first quarter. Employers in the West and Northeast expect the same level of hiring as in the final months of 2004. Job prospects in the Northeast continue to trail those in the other three regions, as they have since the second quarter of 2004.Employers in the Midwest anticipate a decline in first quarter payrolls, albeit on a very small scale.The first quarter hiring forecast across the four U.S. regions represents a significant improvement from a year ago.The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted in a total of 19 countries and territories, including interviews with more than 35,000 employers across the globe.Employers in 17 of those 19 countries and territories say they expect positive hiring activity in the coming quarter.Meanwhile, employers in Germany and Continental Europe are expecting to slow the pace of hiring in the next three months."Our data shows Canadian and U.S. employers are more upbeat about first-quarter hiring than they have been in recent years," said Joerres."Unfortunately, the German labor market appears to have lost any traction gained in the previous two quarters. The percentage of German employers expecting layoffs rose six percent compared to the previous quarter. High oil prices, five-year high unemployment levels and a high Euro are all impacting German companies' decisions to hire."The Manpower survey revealed that elsewhere in Europe, hiring intentions are decidedly mixed, with employers in Ireland, the UK and Norway anticipating the most buoyant labor market activity.The employment outlook is decidedly more optimistic in Asia Pacific, where employers surveyed anticipate the continuation of healthy hiring activity, with all countries reporting improved outlooks compared to one year ago.Visit Manpower Inc.: www.manpower.com"