Employment prospects

Twenty-eight percent of South Florida employers expect to hire between April and June, report says.

Twenty-eight percent of South Florida employers expect to hire between April and June, according to a quarterly forecast released Tuesday by staffing company ManpowerGroup.

That’s more than the statewide hiring of 23 percent, the report said.

But it’s less than the 28 percent of employers from the same quarter a year ago, said ManpowerGroup, which is based in Milwaukee, Wis.

In South Florida, only 2 percent of employers said they planned to reduce staff in the second quarter, 69 percent said they plan to maintain staffing levels, and 1 percent were uncertain.

Statewide, 4 percent expect to reduce their payrolls, 72 percent said they expect to maintain their current work force levels, and 1 percent are not certain of their hiring plans.

ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey results are based on interviews with more than 11,500 employers in the 50 states, District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Across the United States, one in five employers expect to grow their work force in the next three months, according to the survey.

This April through June, ManpowerGroup said, job prospects will be best in construction; manufacturing; transportation and utilities; wholesale and retail trade; information; financial activities; professional and business services; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; government; and other services.

In a separate forecast, Coral Gables-based economist J. Antonio Villamil said Florida’s 2017 job growth bodes well for 2018.

The Orlando area had the strongest employment growth, 3.8 percent, followed by South Florida, with 3 percent growth during the year — both above the national average, he said.

Villamil, of The Washington Economics Group, said the professional and business services category added the most jobs, 56,700, to payrolls in 2017.

“Construction experienced by far the highest percentage growth, with a high growth rate of 9.1 percent throughout 2017,” he said in a news release this week.