LINE survey: More employers adding jobs in October compared with last year

In October, for the third consecutive month, more HR professionals in the manufacturing and service sectors say their organizations will be hiring compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for October 2012. However, layoffs in manufacturing will increase over a year ago.

A net of 34.6 percent of manufacturers (down from 40.8 in September) will add jobs in October (49.8 percent will hire, 15.2 percent will cut jobs). The sector’s hiring index will rise in October on a year-over-year basis by a net of 4.2 points. A net of 33.9 percent of service-sector companies will add jobs in October (40.4 percent will conduct hiring, 6.5 percent will trim payrolls), and the service hiring index will rise by 4.9 points compared with a year ago. The layoff rate will rise in manufacturing and fall in services in October compared with a year ago.

The LINE results for October 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 seven of the past 12 months, manufacturing hiring has trailed the previous year's rate. During that same time period, service-sector hiring fell behind the previous year’s rate in nine of 12 months.

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