CareerBuilder released its 2010 Job Forecast Tuesday, showing that encouraging news regarding the economy may be easing hiring fears, as employers signal an increase in their plans to hire in the new year.
According to the forecast, which surveyed over 2,700 hiring managers and human resource professionals nationwide, 20% of employers plan to increase their number of full-time, permanent employees in 2010. This represents an increase from 14% in 2009.
In addition, 11% of employers say they plan to add part-time employees in 2010, which would be a slight increase from 9% in 2009. Another 8% said they plan to decrease their part-time help in 2010, down from 14% this year.
When broken down by region, the forecast found that employers in the Western U.S. plan to increase their headcounts more in 2010 than the other regions of the country. According to the forecast, 24% of employers in the West say they plan to add full-time workers in 2010.
Meanwhile, 21% of employers in the Northeast plan to add full-time workers, compared to 20% in the South and 16% in the Midwest.
"There have been many signs over the past few months that point to the healing of the U.S. economy, especially the continued decrease in the number of jobs lost per month, a trend that will hopefully carry over into the new year," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.
He added, "Although 20 percent of employers plan to add headcount in 2010, up from 14 percent last year, they still remain cautious in regards to their hiring. We're headed in the right direction but should not expect to see actual job growth until at least Q2 2010."
Next Friday, the U.S. Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on the employment in the month of December.
The Labor Department's employment report for November showed that employment was nearly unchanged, with the dramatic slowdown in the pace of job losses generating some optimism about the outlook for the labor market.
The report showed that non-farm payrolls edged down by 11,000 in November, while most economists had expected a decline of at least 100,000. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly dipped to 10.0 percent, encouraging hope that the labor market is starting to stabilize.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.