Study: Racine County employment outlook weakest in the nation

Racine County employers expect to hire at a dismal pace during the first quarter of 2008, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

Among survey participants, the Racine County employment outlook is expected to be the weakest in the nation.

From January to March, 3% of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 40% expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower spokesperson Kimberly Miller. Another 54% expect to maintain their current staff levels and 3% are not certain of their hiring plans.

“Area employers appear to be significantly decreasing hiring levels when compared with the fourth quarter. For the fourth quarter of 2007, 40% of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 27% planned to reduce staff levels,” said Miller.

“Employers expect much less hiring activity as compared to one year ago, when 20% of companies surveyed planned to raise staff levels and 27% expected to trim payrolls.”

For the coming quarter, employers in Construction, Durable and Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing and Wholesale/Retail Trade plan to reduce staffing levels, while those in Services voice mixed hiring intentions. Hiring in all other sectors is expected to remain unchanged.

After seasonal adjustments have been applied to the survey results, U.S. employers foresee a solid start to 2008 and expect to maintain a steady hiring pace. Of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 22% expect to add to their payrolls during the first quarter of 2008, while 12% expect to reduce staff levels. Sixty percent expect no change in the hiring pace, and 6% are undecided about their January – March hiring plans.