Hiring outlook brightens

Employers on the Gulf Coast plan to hire more employees than they lay off in the fourth quarter, but the Manpower Employment Outlook survey also reveals how quickly they can adapt to changing conditions.

The good news is that employers in every major area of the Gulf Coast told Manpower they plan to increase staff in the fourth quarter from October to December. Their plans are welcome news in areas such as Cape Coral-Fort Myers, where the unemployment rate currently exceeds 13%.

Every area of the Gulf Coast has a positive employment outlook as measured by the number of firms planning to hire and those reducing staff. A year ago, every area of the Gulf Coast had a negative employment outlook with employers shedding more jobs than creating them.

However, as the survey reveals, employers can adapt staffing needs rapidly and skew the figures dramatically from one quarter to the next. For example, the Manpower survey showed that 13% of employers in the Tampa Bay region planned to hire in the fourth quarter, down substantially from the 21% who planned to do so in the third quarter and perhaps reflecting growing uncertainty about the economic recovery.

Below are the survey results of employers queried about their staffing plans for the fourth quarter.

BY THE NUMBERS