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Florida Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Drops 1.2 Points

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 6, 2009 – The Florida Employee Confidence Index decreased by 1.2 points to 38.0 in January, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of Florida workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation, reveals that more workers believe the strength of the economy is staying the same and fewer workers are confident in their ability to find a new job. Despite these findings, 41 percent report that they are likely to look for a new job in the next year.

Results from the Florida Employment Report:

One of three workers (33 percent) believes the strength of the economy is staying the same, unchanged from December.
Forty-one percent of Florida workers are likely to look for a new job in the next year, compared to 36 percent in the previous month.
The percentage of workers that are confident in their ability to find a new job decreased by seven percentage points to 35 percent in December.

“Looking at our latest report, workers have a more pessimistic view about the strength of the economy, and rightfully so,” said Paula Franco, branch manager for Spherion Staffing Services in Florida. “Until we start to see some sort of flattening out of monthly U.S. job losses, it will be a slow road to rebuilding confidence to levels seen in early 2008. That being said, whether by choice or necessity, those looking for work need to do so in industries that feel less of an impact from the current state of the economy. Although many companies are still hiring, it’s being done on a much more targeted and strategic way. Over the next few months, I would expect workers to remain cautious until we start feeling a little more certain that an economic recovery is within reach.”

January 2009 Employment Report Results		Floria Workers			U.S. Workers
		Dec	Jan	% Point Change	Dec	Jan	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	6%	4%	-2	5%	7%	+2
	Staying Same	22%	33%	+11	20%	26%	+6
	Getting Weaker	71%	63%	-8	75%	67%	-8
Job Availability	More Jobs	2%	2%	0	5%	6%	+1
	Same Amount	17%	17%	0	17%	18%	+1
	Fewer Jobs	81%	81%	0	78%	76%	-2
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	42%	35%	-7	39%	42%	+3
	Neutral	29%	34%	+5	33%	33%	0
	Not Confident	29%	31%	+2	28%	25%	-3
Future of Current Employer	Confident	58%	58%	0	66%	67%	+1
	Neutral	29%	21%	-8	23%	22%	-1
	Not Confident	14%	20%	+6	11%	11%	0
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	18%	20%	+2	15%	16%	+1
	Neutral	15%	16%	+1	13%	12%	-1
	Not Likely	67%	64%	-3	72%	72%	0
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	36%	41%	+5	33%	34%	+1
	Neutral	10%	8%	-2	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	54%	50%	-4	55%	54%	-1

About the Spherion Employment Report

Methodology

About Harris Interactive

About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions and breakout specialties to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for more than 60 years, Spherion has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs.

With approximately 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to approximately 10,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing more than 230,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. Spherion operates under the following brands: Spherion Staffing Services Group for administrative, clerical and light industrial workers; Technisource for technology professionals and solutions; The Mergis Group for accounting and finance and other professional positions; Todays Office Professionals for specialty administrative personnel; and Spherion Recruitment Process Outsourcing. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com