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Illinois Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Declines in February

CHICAGO, Ill., March 24, 2009 – The Illinois Employee Confidence Index decreased 2.8 points to 37.8 in February, 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, despite a decrease in overall confidence, more workers are confident in their ability to find a new job, and the percentage of workers believing fewer jobs are available decreased.

Results from the Illinois Employment Report:

Thirty-seven percent of workers say they are confident in their ability to find a new job, an increase of eight percentage points from January.
Sixty-six percent of workers believe they are unlikely to lose their job in the next year, a decrease of 17 percentage points from January.
Eighty-two percent of those surveyed state that fewer jobs are available, a six-percentage-point decrease from the previous month.

“With the state’s unemployment rate rising and news from the government indicating that more layoffs may be coming, it is not surprising that our overall confidence has decreased,” explained Michael Ruter, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in Illinois. “Although the overall numbers did decline, we did have a slight increase in those who are confident in their ability to find a new job, which may be fueled by the belief that the recently passed stimulus package may create more jobs in the near term.”

February 2009 Employment Report Results		Illinois Workers			U.S. Workers
		Jan	Feb	% Point Change	Jan	Feb	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	2%	5%	+3	7%	6%	-1
	Staying Same	35%	23%	-12	26%	24%	-2
	Getting Weaker	63%	72%	+9	67%	70%	+3
Job Availability	More Jobs	4%	1%	-3	6%	5%	-1
	Same Amount	8%	17%	+9	18%	17%	-1
	Fewer Jobs	88%	82%	-6	76%	79%	+3
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	29%	37%	+8	42%	38%	-4
	Neutral	50%	32%	-18	33%	34%	+1
	Not Confident	20%	31%	+11	25%	27%	+2
Future of Current Employer	Confident	68%	61%	-7	67%	63%	-4
	Neutral	25%	23%	-2	22%	24%	+2
	Not Confident	6%	16%	+10	11%	14%	+3
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	8%	20%	+12	16%	17%	+1
	Neutral	9%	14%	+5	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	83%	66%	-17	72%	71%	-1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	33%	35%	+2	34%	33%	-1
	Neutral	6%	10%	+4	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	61%	54%	-7	54%	56%	+2

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.