LINE survey: Gains will be small, but August’s hiring rate in the manufacturing and service sectors will surpass 2011 levels

Following national trends for the labor market, hiring will steadily continue in the manufacturing and service sectors in August, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for August 2012.

A net of 40.6 percent of manufacturers will add jobs in August (49.0 percent will hire, 8.4 percent will cut jobs). The sector’s hiring index will rise in August on a year-over-year basis by a net of 5.0 points. A net of 28.6 percent of service-sector companies will add jobs in August (33.8 percent will conduct hiring, 5.2 percent will trim payrolls), and the service hiring index will rise by 9.4 points compared with a year ago. The layoff rate will fall in both sectors in August compared with a year ago.

The LINE results for August 2012 reflect an ongoing trend of steady job growth each month, but also reveal a pace that is not strong enough to bring down the nation’s continuing high unemployment rate. In eight of the past 12 months, manufacturing hiring has trailed the previous year’s rate, according to LINE data. During the same time period, service-sector hiring fell behind the previous year’s rate in 11 of 12 months.

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