Detroit, Michigan Job Outlooks Beat Nation's

The hiring outlooks for Michigan and metro Detroit are both better than for the nation as a whole.

That's the word from the quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey conducted by the Milwaukee, Wis.-based temporary help agency Manpower Inc.

In the Detroit-Warren-Livonia metropolitan statistical area, which takes in most of metro Detroit, 15 percent of surveyed employers plan to hire more workers in the first quarter running from Jan. 1 to March 31, while 10 percent plan to reduce payrolls. Another 71 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels and 4 percnet are not certain of their hiring plans. That yields a net employment outlook of 5 percent.

That compares to a net outlook of 6 percent for the fourth quarter of 2010, and is a big increase from a year ago, when the net employment outlook was minus 13 percent.

In metro Detroit, job prospects appear best in durable and nondurable goods manufacturing; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; information; professional and business services; and leisure and hospitality. Employers in financial activities and government plan to reduce staffing levels, while construction, education and health services and other services employers expect no change in headcount.

The picture in metro Detroit is brighter than it is in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metropolitan statistical area, which takes in most of the Grand Rapids area. There, 15 percent of employers plan to add staff in the first quarter, while 13 percent expect to reduce payrolls. Another 69 percent plan no changes in staffing while 3 percent aren't sure, yielding a paltry net employment outlook of 2 percent.

That's down significantly from a net employment outlook of 13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, and it's even worse than a year ago, when the net employment outlook was 4 percent.

In the Grand Rapids area, employment prospects appear best in nondurable goods
manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade; professional and business services; education and health services; and other services. Employers in construction, leisure and hospitality and government plan to reduce staffing levels. Durable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, information and financial activities
expect no change in headcount.

In Michigan, the statewide survey showed 17 percent of employers plan to hire more workers in the first quarter from Jan. 1 to March 31, while 12 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 67 percent plan to maintain current staff levels, while 4 percent said they were not yet sure. That yields a net employment outlook of 5 percent.

However, that Michigan outlook is down from the fourth quarter of 2010, when the net employment outlook was 8 percent.

Statewide, job prospects appear best in durable and non-durable goods manufacturing; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; information; professional and businses services; education and health services; and other services. Employers in construction, financial activities, leisure and hospitality and government plan to reduce staff levels.

Nationally, of more than 18,000 employers surveyed, 14 percent anticipate adding to staff, while 10 percent a decrease in payrolls. Seventy-three percent planned no change in hiring, while 3 percent were undecided, yielding a net employment outlook of 4 percent.

More at www.manpower.com.

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