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Hiring expectations and manufacturing vacancies increase

The U.S. private sector labor force is forecasted to add jobs in manufacturing and services in February, but a rise in vacancies and recruiting difficulty suggests employers may be having trouble filling some openings, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for February 2011.

The manufacturing hiring index improved in February on a year-over-year basis by a net of 12.4 points (a net of 42.7 percent of companies will hire in February, compared with a net of 30.3 percent that added jobs a year ago). Service-sector hiring will rise in February by a net of 9.7 points (a net of 33.2 percent will add jobs, compared with a net of 23.5 percent that added jobs a year ago).

Recent year-over-year increases in hiring are also a reflection of sluggish growth in the job market a year ago, and the pace has not accelerated in the last several months. Nonetheless, the number of manufacturing companies with hiring plans in February (50.6 percent) is at a four-year high, and the layoff rate (7.9 percent) is at a four-year low. In services, the 40.3 percent of companies that plan to add jobs is close to the four-year high for February reached in 2008 (49.8 percent), and the layoff rate (7.1 percent) is at a four-year low.

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