Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 6:30am CDT – Last Modified: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 8:19am CDT

 

Houston-area employers are slowly ramping up hiring plans, according to the quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released Tuesday.

About 25 percent of companies surveyed intend to hire more employees during the third quarter of 2011, about five percent higher than the national average.

About seven percent of Houston-area employers said they would trim payrolls in Q3, while 65 percent will maintain staff at current levels.

The survey shows that overall hiring trends are higher than during the first two quarters of 2011.

Houston had the highest percentage of employers looking to add staff in the second quarter (19 percent) compared to the other three major Texas metro areas of Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.

For the third quarter, job prospects appear best in manufacturing, transportation & utilities, finance, professional services, leisure and Hospitality. The government and education sectors face job cuts during the quarter.

“Compared to a year ago … employers are more confident about their staffing plans,” said Manpower spokesman Bill Floyd, in a statement.

The survey is based on interviews with 18,000 employers nationwide.