It's a job-seeker's market, according to a survey released today by job placement agency Manpower Inc.

In its quarterly Employment Outlook Survey, Manpower found that 30 percent of Utah employers it contacted planned to hire more workers in the next quarter. Another 7 percent expected to make cutbacks, while 62 percent of companies interviewed by Manpower said they expected to maintain current staff levels.

"What does it mean? It means that things are still going strong here," said Robert Katz, Manpower's Utah spokesman. "Once again, employers are predicting a fairly strong second quarter as far as hiring is concerned."

In the Salt Lake area, 30 percent of employers interviewed by Manpower said they expected to hire more people. Fifty-seven percent said they expected to keep current staff levels, while 10 percent expected to make cuts. Orem led the way in the Manpower survey, with 33 percent of employers surveyed reporting intentions to hire more workers during April, May and June. Sixty-four percent said they'd maintain current staff levels, while 3 percent said they expected layoffs.

Ogden lagged a bit, with 27 percent of employers surveyed reporting an intent to add new workers. Sixty-six percent said they didn't expect to make changes, while 7 percent planned layoffs.

Utah's results were in line with the results of Manpower's national survey, which found that 30 percent of employers surveyed planned an increase in hiring, while 6 percent expected cutbacks. Fifty-eight percent of the 16,000 employers surveyed said they planned to keep their current staff levels.

"It's definitely a job-seeker's market," Katz said. "We'll probably see some activity in the next quarter, of people leaving one job and going to another — job jumping — because of demand."

Nationally, the trend shows a healthy, stable economy, said Milwaukee-based Manpower.

Mining companies expect significant gains in hiring in the second quarter, with 37 percent planning to increase their payrolls and 3 percent planning to decrease, the survey said.

"Demand for coal has skyrocketed in the wake of high oil and gas prices, and mining employers have responded by boosting their hiring plans in recent quarters," said Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres.

Construction firms outpaced the other industries in the survey, with 43 percent planning to increase staffing and 3 percent planning to reduce it, the survey said.

The hiring outlook in the West outpaced the other regions with 35 percent of companies planning to increase staffing and 5 percent planning to decrease.

The Midwest and the Northeast were the least positive, with each region planning to increase 27 percent. Five percent of Midwest companies surveyed said they planned to decrease staffing compared to 9 percent in the Northeast.

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Contributing: The Associated Press

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com