Hiring activity for October appears weak

Continuing a recent pattern of weak job growth in the U.S., hiring in October will be limited in the manufacturing sector and will fall in the service sector compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for September 2011.

The manufacturing hiring index will rise in October on a year-over-year basis by a net of just 1.1 points (a net of 30.4 percent of companies will hire in October, compared with a net of 29.3 percent that added jobs a year ago). Service-sector hiring will decrease in October by a net of 10.4 points (a net of 29.0 percent will add jobs, compared with a net of 39.4 percent that added jobs a year ago).

The LINE results for October 2011 reflect an ongoing trend of subpar growth in job creation, in accord with recent federal data. Nonfarm payrolls were unchanged in August, according to the BLS, and the manufacturing sector—which has been one of the economy’s stronger performers in terms of job growth—actually lost a net of 3,000 jobs during the month.

The full report, which also includes data for recruiting difficulty, new-hire compensation, and vacancies, can be found here.