LINE survey: Hiring gains expected in February, but job growth rate still behind 2011

The hiring outlook for February shows a net gain in employment in the manufacturing and service sectors, although the pace of job creation lags that of a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for February 2012.

A net of 40.2 percent of manufacturers will add jobs in February (49.1 percent will hire, 8.9 percent will cut jobs), but the hiring index will fall in February on a year-over-year basis by a net of 2.5 points (a net of 42.7 percent of manufacturers added jobs a year ago). A net of 20.9 percent of service-sector companies will grow payrolls in February (26.3 percent will add jobs, 5.4 percent will trim payrolls), but the service hiring index will fall by 12.3 points compared with a year ago (a net of 33.2 percent added jobs in February 2011).

The LINE results for February 2012 reflect an ongoing trend of steady but subpar growth in job creation, in accord with recent federal data. Preliminary data from the BLS show that nearly 1.6 million jobs were created in 2011, but as of December, there were still 14 million people out of work. Of that group, 5.6 million, or 42.5 percent, were classified as "long-term unemployed," or those jobless for 27 weeks or more.

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