The economic recovery is gaining traction.
Fifteen percent of area employers plan to add jobs in the second quarter, according to survey results being released today.
After subtracting the 6 percent of companies that plan to decrease staff, the Fort Wayne metropolitan statistical area expects to see a 9 percent net increase in jobs from April to June, the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey found.
In addition, the survey found that 75 percent of companies expect to maintain steady employment, and 4 percent aren’t certain.
The growth rate, termed a “respectable pace” by Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc., is triple the rate reported in the Fort Wayne MSA’s first-quarter survey results and more than double last year’s second-quarter net increase of 4 percent.
Manpower interviews 18,000 employers in the 200 largest MSAs every three months. The Fort Wayne MSA includes Allen, Whitley and Wells counties. Participating companies include a mix of industries structured to represent the U.S. economy.
The projected net 9 percent local jobs increase edges the expected national increase of 8 percent, according to Manpower survey results.
Among the local sectors adding jobs are construction, durable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, information and financial activities.
Sectors planning to cut jobs are transportation and utilities. And sectors holding steady employment include non-durable good manufacturing, education, health services and government.
Hagerman Construction plans to add a few skilled-trades workers in the second quarter, including bricklayers, carpenters and concrete finishers, Vice President Nathan Fink said Monday.
Parkview Health’s local and Columbia City construction projects have allowed the Fort Wayne firm’s northeast Indiana operations to stay busy, Fink said. But that’s not true for its Lafayette and Fishers operations.
“Things are pretty tough,” he said, in other parts of Indiana. “If not for all the health care construction in the region, things would be tough for us here, too.”
The commercial construction company went through a local hiring phase last summer and fall. Since then, the workforce has remained steady.
Fink was encouraged to hear overall hiring will increase in the second quarter. But he has his own metric for solid construction growth.
“The best economic indicator that we get in our part of the industry is when we hear that architecture firms are hiring,” he said. “That means work is coming down the pike.”
