Job outlook hits worst-ever level

[Craftsman]

By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Employers' hiring plans for the upcoming fourth quarter dropped to their lowest level in the history of Manpower's Employment Outlook Survey, which started in 1962.

A net -3% of employers said they'll hire in the fourth quarter, down from -2% in the third quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Milwaukee-based firm's survey of more than 28,000 employers. Before this year, the survey's previous low point was a net 1% hiring outlook for the third quarter of 1982.



A year ago, a seasonally adjusted net 9% of firms said they would hire in the fourth quarter. The Manpower survey measures the percentage of firms planning to hire minus those intending layoffs. Manpower doesn't measure the number of jobs. The survey's margin of error is +/- 0.49%.

There was one positive sign in the survey: 69% of employers said they planned no change in their hiring plans, up from 67% in the third quarter and 59% in the fourth quarter a year ago (those figures are not seasonally

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hiring-plans-drop-to-record-low-manpower-2009-09-08?siteid=nwhpf

[Hannah Bell]

1. but - we're in recovery! so says the latest news.

profits recovery, i imagine.

[Craftsman]

2. Yes and the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny are holding a jobs fair

[madrchsod]

3. funny you mention them...

i applied for a job with both of them but i was told i`m to old....oh well.

[ixion]

4. -3 is not 'down' from -2. It's up, actually.

-3 is greater than -2 in this context.

That is, a greater number of employers are not going to hire.

It seems to me that a negative number indicates that layoffs will continue to outpace hiring.

[Craftsman]

6. I just found out my employer is about to do another round of lay offs

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. The "recovery" that isn't. Quick! Give more money to the corporations!