Honolulu employers to up hiring
A Manpower survey gives a more optimistic outlook than UHERO
The Honolulu area job market remains robust, with area employers expecting to hire at a brisk pace during the third quarter of this year, according to a survey released today by Manpower Inc.
A total of 43 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees between July to September compared to just 40 percent in the second quarter.
Another 37 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels, according to Manpower, while 7 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Some 13 percent of employers are uncertain of their hiring plans.
Manpower spokesperson Sunny Ackerman said employers are more confident about hiring than they were a year ago, when 30 percent of companies surveyed planned to add staff.
However, only 3 percent of employers anticipated a reduction in payrolls last year, compared to 7 percent in the third quarter.
For the coming quarter, Manpower says job prospects appear best in the construction, transportation, public utilities, finance, insurance, real estate and public administration fields.
The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization was less optimistic about the job market, saying in its report last week that the labor market continues to cool down, particularly in real estate, where job growth slowed from 4.3 percent to 1 percent.
UHERO expects the unemployment rate this year to stay stable, at 2.4 percent, but inch up to 2.6 percent next year and to 3 percent in 2009.
Employer confidence in Honolulu was nevertheless still higher than it was nationally.
Among the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed nationally, only 29 percent said they foresaw an increase in hiring activity for the July through September period, while 58 percent anticipate no change.