Five-week outlook shows employers plan to increase new-hire compensation.

Alexandria, VA (Vocus) January 23, 2007 -- According to new numbers from the Leading Indicator of National Employment® (LINE™) report, there will be more hiring in manufacturing and less in services in February 2007, compared to February 2006. The findings are reported in the February report of the LINE™ index, a collaborative effort between the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations.

This LINE™ employment expectations report references the same February period as the report the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will release on March 9, 2007.

Despite the major decline in overall job vacancies, firms continue to face considerable difficulty in finding highly qualified applicants to fill key positions. Within both the manufacturing and service sectors, recruiting difficulty continues to be a major concern and new-hire compensation in January 2007 is rising faster than it was a year ago. The responses to the January SHRM/Rutgers LINE survey suggest that the tightening labor market is forcing more firms to increase starting wages as a way to attract more qualified job applicants.

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