About one-third of Providence- area employers expect to reduce their work rolls.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

After a lackluster first half of 2008, the Rhode Island job market is forecast to remain gloomy in the third quarter as Providence-area employers expect to hire at a very weak pace, according to a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey to be released today.

About one-third of Providence-area employers interviewed expect to reduce their payrolls, according to Sean Lee, a Manpower spokesman. Another 46 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels, while 17 percent plan to hire more employees. The rest are not certain of their hiring plans.

During the first four months of 2008, Rhode Island lost 6,300 jobs and payroll employment fell to its lowest level since June 2003, according to the state Department of Labor and Training. The unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, with 34,800 residents out of work and looking for work.

“Employer sentiment about hiring appears to be considerably less encouraging than in the second quarter of 2008, when 23 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 13 percent planned to reduce staff levels,” said Lee. “Hiring activity is expected to be lighter than one year ago, when 17 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 17 percent expected to cut payrolls.”

For the third quarter, job prospects appear best in construction and non-durable goods manufacturing. Employers in transportation, public utilities, finance, insurance, real estate services and public administration plan to reduce staff levels, while those in durable goods manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade voiced mixed intentions. Education is expected to remain unchanged.

Nationally, employers are projecting a slight decline in hiring for the third quarter. Of the 14,000 employers surveyed, 26 percent expect to increase their work forces during the July-to-September period, 10 percent expect to scale back their payrolls, and the remainder plan no changes or are undecided.

Manpower is a Milwaukee-based employment-services company.