Jobhunting? The Employment Backdrop Is the Best Since 2008

(Bloomberg) -- For prospective job hunters, the outlook for employment is the best it’s been since the financial crisis, according to Manpower Group.

In a quarterly report published Tuesday, Manpower said its net employment outlook is above zero in all 43 countries surveyed for the first time since 2008. More than half of them said the hiring outlook has strengthened, with the best readings in Japan, Taiwan, Costa Rica, India and Hungary.

Unemployment has been declining across the world after a jump during the global recession. In the euro area, it’s fallen to 9.1 percent from 12.1 percent in 2013, while the U.K. jobless rate is just 4.4 percent, the lowest since the 1970s. Across the OECD, the average rate was 5.8 percent in July.

“We are seeing sustained hiring confidence from employers around the world after some years of caution,” said Manpower Chairman Jonas Prising.

In Europe, Manpower said hiring is expected to maintain momentum, with employers in Italy and Greece reporting the strongest hiring plans since 2011 and 2008 respectively. That’s good news in particular for Greece, where the unemployment rate is above 20 percent, more than double the euro-area average.

Employers across the U.S. “remain positive” on hiring, according to the report, while U.K. hiring intentions “continue to be favorable in the face of uncertainty around Brexit negotiations,” particularly in the construction, finance and business services industries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fergal O'Brien in London at fobrien@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net, Andrew Atkinson, Brian Swint