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Texas Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Rises

DALLAS, Texas, March 5, 2009 – Despite another month of job losses, the Texas Employee Confidence Index increased 2.8 points to 48.5 in January, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of Texas workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation, indicates that more workers are optimistic about the future of their current employer, and the percentage of workers reporting that the economy is getting weaker decreased.

Results from the Texas Employment Report:

Seventy-seven percent of workers are confident in the future of their current employer, increasing nine percentage points from December.
Fewer workers believe fewer jobs are available. Specifically, 61 percent reported that job availability has decreased versus 68 percent in the previous month.
Slightly more workers (49 percent) are confident in their ability to find a new job, compared to 47 percent in December.

“Our latest Employee Confidence Index surprisingly took a turn for the better,” said Kim Lockhart, regional vice president for Spherion in Texas. “With all the national headlines pointing to job loss, business closings and foreclosures, I would have expected our latest findings to decline. That being said, Texas has remained fairly resilient to the economic crisis, but certainly not unscathed. While it has definitely taken longer for the spillover of the country’s job loss to reach Texas, I anticipate that this pace will continue as the new administration tries to get the U.S. out of its current economic situation. In our own business, we continue to address the needs of our clients and still see a healthy demand for skilled workers.”

January 2009 Employment Report Results		Texas Workers			U.S. Workers
		Dec	Jan	% Point Change	Dec	Jan	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	4%	7%	+3	5%	7%	+2
	Staying Same	30%	31%	+1	20%	26%	+6
	Getting Weaker	66%	62%	-4	75%	67%	-8
Job Availability	More Jobs	8%	3%	-5	5%	6%	+1
	Same Amount	23%	36%	+13	17%	18%	+1
	Fewer Jobs	68%	61%	-7	78%	76%	-2
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	47%	49%	+2	39%	42%	+3
	Neutral	34%	37%	+3	33%	33%	0
	Not Confident	19%	14%	-5	28%	25%	-3
Future of Current Employer	Confident	68%	77%	+9	66%	67%	+1
	Neutral	24%	13%	-11	23%	22%	-1
	Not Confident	8%	11%	+3	11%	11%	0
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	8%	9%	+1	15%	16%	+1
	Neutral	15%	7%	-8	13%	12%	-1
	Not Likely	77%	84%	+7	72%	72%	0
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	26%	28%	+2	33%	34%	+1
	Neutral	16%	9%	-7	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	57%	63%	+6	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.