Survey says employers are beginning to hire again

A new statewide survey shows employers are starting to hire workers again, but the economy hasn’t clicked back to the hiring levels of a year ago. The Manpower survey found 21 percent of Iowa businesses plan to hire more workers in April, May and June. That’s 12 percent better than the previous quarter, but not quite the hiring climate of last spring. Manpower spokesman Michael Lynch. Lynch, however, doesn’t know what factors account for the turn-around.Lynch says the survey doesn’t ask for the reasons behind hiring decisions, it just asks if a business will be hiring. Nine percent of the Iowa employers surveyed by Manpower said they planned to lay-off workers in April, May or June. Cedar Rapids has the best prospects for job seekers, as 33 percent of Cedar Rapids businesses say they’ll hire in the next quarter. Thirty percent of the businesses in Ottumwa say they’ll expand their workforce. The worst hiring climate is in Muscatine, where just three percent of firms say they’ll add workers. Here are the city survey details: in Burlington, 27 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Cedar Rapids, 33 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Des Moines, 20 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Iowa City, 21 percent of businesses plan to hire; in the Iowa Quad Cities, 17 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Marshalltown, 27 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Mason City, 17 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Muscatine, three percent of businesses plan to hire; in Ottumwa, 30 percent of businesses plan to hire; in Sioux City, 23 percent of businesses plan to hire and in Waterloo, 17 percent of businesses plan to hire.