MNI: ManpowerGroup: Q118 US Hiring Intention Highest in 10 Yrs

--Transportation/Utilities/Construction/Manufacturing Needs Especially Strong

--All 13 Industries Plan To Add Staff in Q1 2018

By Vicki Schmelzer

     NEW YORK (MNI)   - U.S. hiring intentions are the highest in 10 years, as

employers across the country anticipate adding to staff in Q1 2018, according to

the findings of the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, released

Tuesday. 

     U.S. firms were asked "How do you anticipate total employment at your

location to change in the three months to the end of March 2018 compared to the

current quarter."

     Twenty-one percent of those polled said they planned to increase staff

levels, 5% planned to decrease staff levels, 71% planned to maintain staff

levels and 3% said they don't know, which resulted in a seasonally adjusted Net

Employment Outlook of 19% for Q1 2018. This compared to a Net Employment Outlook

of 17% in Q4 2017 and 16% in Q1 2017. 

     "Nationwide, employers in all 13 industry sectors expect to add staff in Q1

2018," the survey said.

     "The top Outlooks by industry are: Leisure & Hospitality (+28%),

Transportation & Utilities (+26%), Professional & Business Services (+23%),

Wholesale & Retail Trade (+23%), Durable Goods Manufacturing (+19%) and

Construction (+18%)," ManpowerGroup noted.

     On the industry breakdown, job prospects in Transportation and Utilities

were the strongest since Q1 1982, when the survey began reporting seasonally

adjusted data, and "employers in Construction and the Durable Goods

Manufacturing sectors forecast the strongest Outlooks in more than a decade,"

the survey said. 

     "We're seeing a renaissance in industries like construction and

manufacturing in the U.S.," said Becky Frankiewicz, president of ManpowerGroup

North America. 

     "These are not the jobs of the past - many are highly skilled roles that

will build America's future," she said, "Strong hiring intentions tell us

employers have positions to fill, yet we know they're struggling to find people

with the right skills to fill them."

     In addition to strong sector intentions, employers in all four U.S. regions

"have a positive outlook for the Q1 2018 hiring plans," the survey said.

     But, while the hiring outlook remained "relatively stable" in the the

Northeast and West and "unchanged" in the South compared to Q4, "in the Midwest,

the Net Employment Outlook increased by 2 percentage points" and "is the

strongest reported since the beginning of 2001," ManpowerGroup said.

     At the state level, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii and Utah report the strongest

Net Employment Outlooks, the survey said. 

     "Of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, the strongest job

prospects are expected in Cape Coral, Fla.; Ogden, Utah; Chattanooga, TN; Los

Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and Charlotte, N.C.," the survey said. 

     For the survey, Manpower conducted 11,500 interviews with employers in the

U.S., "including all 50 states, the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs),

the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico" about their hiring intentions in Q1

2018. 

     --GLOBAL HIRING OUTLOOK UPBEAT 

     In Tuesday's release, ManpowerGroup also included the findings of

interviews with "nearly 59,000 employers across 43 countries and territories"

about their Q1 hiring intentions. 

     The survey showed "workforce gains of varying margins are forecast by

employers in 41 of 43 countries and territories during the January-March time

frame."  

     Key for the world economy, "for the second consecutive quarter since the

global financial crisis in 2009, employers report no negative Outlooks among the

43 countries and territories," the survey noted.

     "Employers in a number of countries," such as Australia, Japan, Norway,

Poland, Romania and the U.S. "report their strongest hiring plans in five years

or more," the survey said. 

     In addition, there were signs that "the volatility recently observed in

some countries - most notably in Brazil, China and India - is declining,"

ManpowerGroup said. 

     The Q2 2018 ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is scheduled to be

released March 13, 2018. 

--MNI New York Bureau; tel: +1 212-669-6438; email: vicki.schmelzer@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,M$$FI$,M$$FX$]