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Illinois Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Inches Up in March

CHICAGO, Ill., April 19, 2007 – The Illinois Employee Confidence Index increased 1.7 points in March to 62.9 according to the latest Spherion® Employment Report. The monthly survey of Illinois workers, conducted by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), shows that more workers believe that the economy is staying the same, and more workers are confident in their ability to find a new job.
 
Results from the Illinois Employment Report:
  • Fifty-six percent of workers believe the economy is staying the same, an increase of 17 percentage points from the previous month.

  • The percentage of workers who are confident in their ability to find a new job increased from 60 percent to 63 percent in March.

  • Nearly half of workers (49 percent), believe that the same amount of jobs are available, a 10-percentage-point increase from February.
“The Confidence Index has been essentially flat over the past couple of months, but we see the upward momentum in March as a positive sign, especially given recent concerns about the economy, energy prices and the stock market,” explained Michael Ruter, managing director of Spherion Professional Services in Chicago. “Our Report shows that workers believe many of the major indicators are either improving or are stabilized. The key finding here is that workers are optimistic that the economy and job market are headed in the right direction and we may see higher levels of confidence in the near future if these trends continue.”

March Employment Report Results
  Illinois Workers U.S.  Workers
   Feb Mar  % Point Change  Feb  Mar  % Point Change 
Economy Getting Stronger 26%  15%  -11  24%  17%  -7
Staying Same 39%
56%
+17  42%  42%  0
Getting Weaker 35%  29%  -6  34%  41%  +7
Job Availability More Jobs 24%  23%  -1  28%  24%  -4
Same Amount 39%  49%  +10  37%  40%  +3
Fewer Jobs 37%  27%  -10  35%  36%  -1
Ability to Find New Job Confident 60%  63%  +3  60%  58%  -2
Neutral 28%  32%  +4  27%  28%  +1
Not Confident 12%  5%  -7  13%  15%  +2
Future of Current Employer Confident 72%  71%  -1  65%  63%  -2 
Neutral 17%  22%  +5  22%  25%  +3 
Not Confident 11%  8%  -3  13%  13% 
Likelihood to Lose Job Likely 11%  11%  10%  10% 
Neutral 6%  15%  +9  10%  -9%  -1 
Not Likely 82%  73%  -9  80%  80%  0
Likelihood to Look for New Job Likely 32%  37%  +5  36%  33%  -3
Neutral 13%  11%  -2  10%  13%  +3
Not Likely 56%  52%  -4  54%  54%   0

About the Spherion Employment Report

As part of the Spherion® Emerging Workforce® Series of employment surveys, the monthly Spherion Employment Report provides a snapshot of the latest workforce trends across the country and is issued in conjunction with state and national labor market releases. Three key indices are measured: the Spherion Job Security Index, which captures how likely respondents think it is that they will lose their job or that their job will be eliminated in the next 12 months; the Spherion Job Transition Index, which captures how likely respondents are to look for a new job in the next 12 months; and the Employee Confidence Index, which measures employees’ overall confidence in the economy, the future of their employer, the availability of jobs, and their ability to find other employment. The Employee Confidence Index is based on these four components, with a ‘score’ calculated for each by taking the difference of the percentage of positive responses and the percentage of negative responses. These four scores are then averaged to indicate an overall level of employee confidence scaled from 0 (no confidence) to 100 (complete confidence). A reading above 50 indicates a positive confidence level.

Methodology

The March 2007 Spherion® Employment Report is based on data from a Harris Interactive® QuickQuerySM online omnibusconducted on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 3,044 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, of whom 135 are employed in Illinois (for Feb 2007 n=216), was interviewed in a series of two polls conducted between March 5-7 and March 12-14, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where it is necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting adjusted for respondents’ propensity to be online.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 3,044 U.S. employed adults one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points, and the sampling error for the Illinois state sample results would be +/- eight percentage points. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

 

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for more than 60 years, Spherion has screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs. Positions range from administrative and light industrial to a host of professions that include accounting/finance, information technology, engineering, manufacturing, legal, human resources and sales/marketing.

 

With approximately 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing nearly 300,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com. For up-to-date career tips and trends, visit Spherion’s career blog, The Big TimeSM, at www.spherion.com/careerblog.

 

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com. To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

 

 

IL-Employment-Report-Mar07-PDF
Click here for a PDF of the Report (86 KB)

 

Media Contact

Lesly Cardec

954.308.6302

 

leslycardec@sfngroup.com

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