Lewiston-Auburn area employers say they’ll be hiring during the second quarter of 2005, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

From April to June, 30 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while just 7 percent are likely to reduce their payrolls, according to Manpower spokeswoman Carol Albert.

Another 60 percent expect to maintain their existing staff levels, while 3 percent aren’t certain of their hiring plans.

“Lewiston-area employers have stronger hiring intentions than in the first quarter when 23 percent of the companies interviewed intended to add staff, and 13 percent planned to reduce head count,” said Albert, who manages the company’s Auburn office.

“Employers are also more positive about hiring than they were a year ago when 30 percent of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely, and 17 percent intended to cut back,” she added.

For the coming quarter, Albert said job prospects appear best in construction, nondurable goods manufacturing and education.

Employers in wholesale/retail trade and services have mixed hiring intentions, while hiring in durable-goods manufacturing, public administration, transportation/public utilities and finance/insurance/real estate is expected to remain unchanged.

The national results of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2005 reveal that strong hiring activity is expected to continue across the United States.

The L-A area’s projected growth rate of 30 percent compares to a 29 percent growth projection for the state.

Of the 16,000 U.S. employers who were surveyed, 30 percent plan to add staff in the second quarter, while 7 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Fifty-eight percent of the hiring managers polled anticipate no change in staff levels for the coming quarter, and 5 percent are unsure of their hiring plans.

When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the net employment outlook is the same as it was for the first three months of the year and is similar to last year at this time. In fact, this marks the fifth consecutive quarter in which employers have reported hiring expectations that rival those last seen in the beginning months of 2001.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their work force during the next quarter. The survey has been running for more than 40 years. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey in the United States is based on interviews with nearly 16,000 public and private employers in 470 markets across the country.