LINE survey: Hiring rate will fall again in January in manufacturing and services

In January, for the third consecutive month, hiring activity will decrease and job cuts will rise in the manufacturing and service sectors compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for January 2012.

The manufacturing hiring index will fall in January on a year-over-year basis by a net of 4.4 points (a net of 25.2 percent of companies will hire in January, compared with a net of 29.6 percent that added jobs a year ago). Service-sector hiring will drop significantly in January by a net of 15.4 points (a net of just 6.1 percent will add jobs, compared with a net of 21.5 percent that conducted hiring a year ago).

The LINE results for January 2012 reflect an ongoing trend of subpar growth in job creation, in accord with recent federal data. For the 12-month period ending November 2011, payroll employment increased by an average of 131,000 jobs per month, according to the BLS. Many economists say twice that number is needed each month to steadily bring down the unemployment rate.

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