New projections show employers across Iowa plan to do plenty of hiring during the final three months of the year. Manpower Incorporated says 30-percent of the Iowa employers it surveyed plan to increase staff between October and December, six-percent plan staff cuts while 59-percent expect no change and five-percent didn’t know.
Manpower spokesman Mike Lynch says the numbers from Iowa’s largest city were slightly less glowing than the statewide figures. Lynch says: "Looking at the Des Moines area, of those employers surveyed, 24-percent plan on increasing staff while just ten-percent plan on decreasing, so pretty decent there. As you look across the state, pretty much some optimism from basically everybody." He says most metro areas in the state will see a net increase in the upcoming quarter.
"Prospects look extremely good in the Iowa City area with 53-percent of the employers there surveyed planning on increasing, while no one is planning on decreasing staff that we spoke with. Cedar Rapids looks strong, the Quad Cities and Sioux City as well, really across the state," according to Lynch. The only place in Iowa where the numbers weren’t sterling was Marshalltown, which had a net increase of zero for jobs. Ten-percent of those employers surveyed in Marshalltown planned to hire in the upcoming quarter while ten-percent planned cuts, with 47-percent reporting no expected change and 33-percent responding they didn’t know.
Lynch compares the projections for the state’s final quarter to 2006. Lynch says: "The results are real comparable to what we had for the same time period last year. It’s down a little bit from the third quarter of this year. Fairly consistent, I think, year-to-year, maybe a slight softening from what we saw last year." For the fourth quarter of 2006, Lynch says 23-percent of companies surveyed planned to boost staff levels and seven-percent expected to reduce payrolls.
For the coming quarter, he says job prospects appear best in durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, finance, insurance and real estate. Employers in services and public administration plan to reduce staffing levels, while those in wholesale/retail trade voice mixed hiring intentions. Hiring in construction, transportation, public utilities and education is expected to remain unchanged.
