Society for Human Resource Management (04/02/15)

Hiring activity in the manufacturing and service sectors is expected to rise in April for the 13th consecutive month compared with a year ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s Leading Indicators of National Employment survey of 500 manufacturers and 500 service-sector firms. A net 52% of manufacturers and 45.1% of service-sector companies will add jobs in April. Both sectors will reach four-year highs for hiring rates in the month of April.

In March, for the 11th consecutive month, recruiting difficulty reached four-year highs. A net 24.8% of manufacturing respondents had more difficulty with recruiting in March, an increase of 12.6 points from March 2014. A net 25.3% of service-sector respondents had more difficulty recruiting in March, an increase of 5.3 points from a year ago. March also marked the 13th consecutive month that recruiting difficulty rose in both sectors when compared with the previous year.