US Sees Rosiest Jobs Outlook Since 1998

42% of respondents expect to be hiring in next 6 months
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 24, 2011 8:59 AM CST
US Sees Rosiest Jobs Outlook Since 1998
On this Sept. 29, 2010 photo, a Target store advertises for employment, in Daly City, Calif.   (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

US firms' employment expectations are the best they’ve been in more than a decade, a survey finds: Some 42% of companies who responded expect to boost hiring in the next 6 months, up from 39% in October; just 7% planned to shrink payrolls, compared to 11% in October. Some 62% of respondents, meanwhile, said they were likely to spend more on equipment this year, Bloomberg notes.

“Things are headed in the right direction,” said the economist who analyzed the results, but keep your hopes in check: A payroll surge “won’t happen overnight, and we’re probably several years from seeing the unemployment rate that we enjoyed prior to the downturn,” he said.
(More jobs stories.)

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