Utah employers may be having trouble finding workers because of the state's low unemployment rate, but that's not swaying their intention to hire.

Fifty-two percent of companies surveyed by employment services company Manpower Inc. indicate they will be adding staff during the fourth quarter, while only 3 percent expect to shrink staffing levels during that period.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, released today, also shows that Orem-area employers are even more bullish on hiring plans, with 60 percent expecting to increase staffing and 3 percent expecting cutbacks.

In the Salt Lake City area, 47 percent of interviewed companies plan to hire more workers and none expect to cut staff. Fifty-three percent plan to maintain current payrolls.

"Hiring intentions among area employers are more optimistic than in the third quarter, when 50 percent of the companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 7 percent planned to reduce staff levels," Manpower spokesman Robert Katz said in a prepared statement.

"Employer confidence about hiring is stronger as compared to one year ago. For the fourth quarter of 2006, 40 percent of companies surveyed planned to boost staff levels and 3 percent expected to reduce payrolls."

The only other Utah city included in the survey is Ogden, where half of the surveyed companies plan to add employees and 7 percent figure on reductions.

Manpower said the best employment opportunities for the fourth quarter appear to be in mining, construction, nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation/public utilities, wholesale/retail trade, services and public administration. Unchanged from the third quarter will be durable goods manufacturing, finance/insurance/real estate and education.

The strong Utah figures are in contrast to the national survey results. U.S. fourth-quarter hiring pace is expected to remain unchanged from the July-to-September period but be a little off last year's fourth-quarter pace. Among the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 27 percent foresee an increase in hiring activity and 9 percent expect a decline in the fourth quarter. Fifty-eight percent expect no change, while 6 percent were undecided.

Utah's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in July was 2.7 percent. Unemployment and job-growth figures for August are expected to be released a week from today.

---

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com