What's the silver lining to the big dark cloud that was hovering over U.S. employment in February? It turns out that over a quarter of employers are planning to hire in the next three months. A quarterly survey of over 14,000 companies by Manpower finds that 26 percent of companies expect to expand their workforces, 9 percent expect to decrease jobs, and 5 percent are unsure. That is only a bit weaker than what the same survey found a year ago. Back then, 28 percent were predicting more hiring. This quarter, the construction industry, still reeling from the housing crisis, showed the greatest weakness, with 13 percent planning to cut jobs.


