Manufacturing hiring to expand in April, but large-scale hiring remains elusive

Manufacturing and service payrolls in the U.S. private sector will expand in April compared with last year, but large-scale hiring remains elusive, according to the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for April 2011.

The manufacturing hiring index will improve in March on a year-over-year basis by a net of 12.0 points (a net of 45.7 percent of companies will hire in March, compared with a net of 33.7 percent that added jobs a year ago). Service-sector hiring will decrease in March by a net of 11.5 points (a net of 35.0 percent will add jobs, compared with a net of 46.5 percent that added jobs a year ago). The mixed results for March 2011 reflect a labor market that is still struggling to create a volume of new jobs that would reduce the high unemployment rate.

Nonetheless, the number of manufacturing companies with hiring plans in April (57.6 percent) is at a four-year high, and the layoff rate (9.1 percent) is at a four-year low. In services, the 41.7 percent of companies that plan to hire in April is slightly below the four-year high reached in 2008, but the layoff rate (4.1 percent) is at a four-year low.

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