The international job market is still reeling from 2008’s worldwide economic downturn, but a little sunlight is breaking through the clouds.
When it comes to hiring patterns for the rest of 2012, employers in the United States are starting to show confidence.
However, uncertainty remains entrenched in the global marketplace—particularly in Europe, India, mainland China and Brazil—are contributing to a weak global hiring forecast. Overall, the hiring pace worldwide is expected to lose momentum in 2012, but hiring plans still remain positive in almost three-quarters of the countries and territories included in a survey by the human resources agency ManpowerGroup.
There still remains a sense of optimism within U.S. companies and hiring managers. Hiring confidence among U.S. employers continues to inch up.
All states, regions and industries surveyed report a positive Net Employment Outlook (NEO). In June, the employers reported an 11 percent increase for the seasonally adjusted outlook for third-quarter 2012. This increase may be small compared to earlier surveys—businesses reported 10 percent during the previous quarter and 8 percent during the same period last year.
The best news for the job market is 92 percent of U.S. employers plan to expand or hold steady current hiring levels. This trend in confidence marks 11 consecutive quarters of positive hiring outlooks preceded by only three quarters of negative employment plans.
This year represents the first time since 2008 that there were two consecutive quarters of positive NEO in all industries across the board
Hiring outlooks in the U.S. are best in various industry sectors:
- Leisure & Hospitality (+30 percent)
- Professional & Business Services (+20 percent)
- Wholesale & Retail Trade (+19 percent)
- Mining (+17 percent)
- Durable Goods Manufacturing (+15 percent)
- Transportation & Utilities (+14 percent)
- Financial Activities (+14 percent)
- Nondurable Goods Manufacturing (+13 percent)
- Construction (+12 percent)
- Information (+12 percent)
- Government (+7 percent)
- Education & Health Services (+6 percent)
The best news is that in the U.S. business confidence is on the rise, the third quarter of 2012 marks the first double-digit NEO across all four geographic regions since 2008.
Rising business optimism continues in the U.S. Employers in all 50 states say that they will involve more staff, with Alaska remaining the leader of all 50 states. Alaskan employers have shown a significant increase in hiring intentions since the beginning of 2012, when the NEO was at 1 percent, compared with 29 percent in the third quarter of 2012.
Every one of the 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas surveyed reports additional hiring plans.
Read the entire ManpowerGroup report.
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