2nd quarter hiring prospects still optimistic

As the national unemployment rate cracked eight-percent last week for the first time since early in the Reagan administration, a forecast for Nebraska’s upcoming quarter holds some promise the state will be insulated from foul jobs news elsewhere.
Mike Lynch, spokesman for Manpower Incorporated, says the agency’s employment outlook survey for April, May and June is generally positive in Nebraska’s largest city — and statewide. In Omaha-Council Bluffs, 19-percent of employers plan to increase staff during the upcoming quarter and eight-percent plan for a decrease.
As for Nebraska’s capitol city, Lynch says the picture is much less rosy. He says in Lincoln, 11-percent of employers surveyed plan to increase their staffs while ten-percent project a decrease in staffing levels.
Lynch says overall, Nebraska is “holding its own” between a large number of new jobs and a contrary number of positions being eliminated.