Connecticut jobs among the worst in the nation

Posted on October 1, 2011

If you’re looking for Connecticut jobs, you’ve got the hardest task in the nation, according to a new survey from Manpower.

The worst area of all for finding a job this fall is Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.

Approximately 12 percent of companies surveyed in that area said they will be hiring in the fall, a sharp decrease compared to other bright spots in the nation.

Nineteen percent expect to reduce their staff levels, and sixty-nine percent expect to maintain their current workforce. This yields a net employment outlook of -7 percent for the Connecticut metropolis.

ManpowerGroup surveyed more than 18,000 employers in 100 metropolitan areas to find out who’s hiring, who’s firing and who plans to maintain their current staff levels in the fourth quarter of 2011, October through December.

Nationwide, only 16 percent of employers say they plan on hiring in the fall. About 11 percent said they will be decreasing their employee roster.

“The numbers are not going in the right direction this quarter, and they are not as robust as we would have liked them to be,” says Melanie Holmes, a vice president at ManpowerGroup. “Employers are hesitant about hiring in this economic climate. They are remaining guarded, and that is reflected in these results.”

Elsewhere in the nation, Las Vegas jobs are also struggling, the survey found.