LINE survey: Manufacturing and service-sector hiring will be steady in May

Although the rate of growth will not reach the level of a year ago, job creation will continue in the manufacturing and service sectors in May, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for May 2012.

A net of 40.5 percent of manufacturers will add jobs in May (46.6 percent will hire, 6.1 percent will cut jobs). The sector's hiring index will fall in May on a year-over-year basis by a net of 3.8 points. A net of 30.4 percent of service-sector companies will add jobs in May (35.5 percent will conduct hiring, 5.1 percent will trim payrolls), and the service hiring index will fall by 17.1 points compared with a year ago. The layoff rate in manufacturing will fall in May compared with last year; service-sector companies will cut jobs at a slightly higher rate than that of May 2011.

The LINE results for May 2012 reflect an ongoing trend of overall steady job growth, in accord with recent federal data. March 2012 data from the BLS showed that 37,000 manufacturing jobs were added during the month. Several industries related to the service sector also posted employment gains for the month, while other segments of that industry suffered losses. Retail trade, for example, lost 34,000 jobs in March.

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