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New York Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Makes Significant Rebound in January

NEW YORK, N.Y., March 5, 2009 – After reaching its lowest point over the last 12 months, the New York Employee Confidence Index rebounded 9.6 points to 45.5 in January, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of New York workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation, shows that more workers are confident in their ability to find a new job.

Results from the New York Employment Report:

Nearly half (48 percent) of workers surveyed reported that they were confident in their ability to find a new job, an increase of 15 percentage points from December.
Slightly more workers (10 percent) believe more jobs are available, a five-percentage-point increase from the previous month.
Sixty-five percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, an increase of six percentage points from December.

“After several months of negative jobs news, it is refreshing to see a nice bounce in worker confidence and in optimism regarding job availability,” said Linda Perneau, vice president and general manager of Spherion Staffing Services. “The jump in optimism is somewhat surprising, but tracks with our January national index. I believe it can be attributed to the new administration and proposed economic stimulus plans that many believe will jump start the economy and job creation.”

January 2009 Employment Report Results		New York Workers			U.S. Workers
		Dec	Jan	% Point Change	Dec	Jan	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	2%	7%	+5	5%	7%	+2
	Staying Same	14%	28%	+14	20%	26%	+6
	Getting Weaker	84%	66%	-18	75%	67%	-8
Job Availability	More Jobs	5%	10%	+5	5%	6%	+1
	Same Amount	14%	21%	+7	17%	18%	+1
	Fewer Jobs	81%	69%	-12	78%	76%	-2
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	33%	48%	+15	39%	42%	+3
	Neutral	35%	32%	-3	33%	33%	0
	Not Confident	32%	21%	-11	28%	25%	-3
Future of Current Employer	Confident	59%	65%	+6	66%	67%	+1
	Neutral	26%	25%	-1	23%	22%	-1
	Not Confident	15%	10%	-5	11%	11%	0
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	14%	16%	+2	15%	16%	+1
	Neutral	16%	10%	-6	13%	12%	-1
	Not Likely	70%	74%	+4	72%	72%	0
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	26%	32%	+6	33%	34%	+1
	Neutral	18%	12%	-6	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	56%	56%	0	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.