By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Job prospects appear to be tightening in the Lewiston-Auburn area.

A survey of the region’s employers by labor provider Manpower Inc. released today found that 13 percent expect to reduce their payrolls during the first quarter of 2006.

It isn’t all bad, though. Another 23 percent say they’ll probably add employees while 64 percent say they’ll retain existing staffing levels.

“The Lewiston area employment outlook is softer than the fourth-quarter forecast when 30 percent of the companies interviewed predicted an increase in hiring activity and none planned to decrease the hiring pace,” said Carol Albert, Manpower’s Auburn office manager.

Still, the numbers aren’t out of line, Albert added.

“A year ago at this time, employers revealed identical hiring intentions,” she said in a statement accompanying release of the survey.

Local numbers appear more or less on a par with those found in the Portland area.

The Augusta-Waterville area outlook is bleaker. There, only 13 percent of employers expect to be hiring while 23 percent said they’ll pare their work force.

Locally, Albert said job prospects appear strongest in construction and durable goods manufacturing. The outlook is mixed in nondurable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and services.

Financial and related sectors, transportation, public utilities, education and government numbers appear to be steady.

Manpower conducts its employment outlook survey quarterly across the United States. The L-A area’s 23 percent hiring pace is on par with national figures, but the decrease rate is three points higher than those findings.