The Columbus Dispatch

EMPLOYMENT

- Mawilliams@dispatch. com @BizMarkWil­liams

“We’re seeing some consistenc­y in hiring in central Ohio. Companies have projects to do. They are continuing to hire to get the work done,” said Pam Kerstetter, managing director of Experis, a profession­alservices company that is part of Manpower.

Kerstetter said the region’s low unemployme­nt rate, 3.7 percent in December, the most recent figures available, is driving hiring.

“The labor market is tightening up. Companies are having to make hiring decisions quicker,” she said.

The jobless rate is especially tight in technology, Kerstetter said.

Manpower said the best job prospects in central Ohio are in broad swath of sectors: constructi­on, retail, profession­al and business services, private education and health care, leisure and hospitalit­y, and government.

Hiring in manufactur­ing, finance, and transporta­tion and utilities is expected to hold steady.

Of the state’s metropolit­an areas, Cincinnati has the strongest outlook for the quarter with a 24-point spread between hiring and firing. That spread is 8 points higher than the year-ago period.

For the state, the spread is 17 points, 1 point below a year ago.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States