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California Employee Confidence Report: Workers More Optimistic About Strength of the Economy

LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 19, 2009 –In the midst of ongoing job declines being reported across the state, the California Employee Confidence Index rose 4.5 points to 49.2 in May, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of California workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), uncovers signs of economic optimism for the third consecutive month. Specifically, more workers indicated that they believe the economy is getting stronger, and fewer workers reported that fewer jobs are available.

Results from the California Employment Report:

One quarter of workers (25 percent) believe the economy is getting stronger, an increase of seven percentage points from April.
More workers reported that they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months. Specifically 40 percent versus 36 percent in the previous month.
Nearly half of workers (49 percent) are confident in their ability to find a new job, an increase of six percentage points from April.
Sixty-nine percent of workers believe there are fewer jobs available compared to 77 percent in the previous month.

“We are pleased to see the continued uptick in confidence among California workers for the third consecutive month. While only time will tell if this is going to be a trend, we believe that ongoing fluctuation in our Index is highly probable in the months to come,” explained Beth Noseworthy, region vice president for Spherion. “However, it is promising to see that California workers are expressing higher levels of personal confidence and are increasingly indicating that they believe the economy is getting stronger, which are both positive signs in terms of economic recovery.”

May 2009 Employment Report Results		California Workers			U.S. Workers
		Apr	May	% Point Change	Apr	May	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	18%	25%	+7	16%	20%	+4
	Staying Same	39%	32%	-7	38%	42%	+4
	Getting Weaker	43%	43%	0	46%	38%	-8
Job Availability	More Jobs	4%	13%	+9	5%	8%	+3
	Same Amount	19%	17%	-2	20%	21%	+1
	Fewer Jobs	77%	69%	-8	75%	71%	-4
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	43%	49%	+6	38%	42%	+4
	Neutral	27%	28%	+1	35%	34%	-1
	Not Confident	30%	23%	-7	26%	24%	-2
Future of Current Employer	Confident	59%	60%	+1	65%	63%	-2
	Neutral	27%	23%	-4	22%	25%	+3
	Not Confident	15%	17%	+2	13%	13%	0
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	26%	21%	-5	18%	16%	-2
	Neutral	11%	14%	+3	12%	13%	+1
	Not Likely	63%	65%	+2	70%	71%	+1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	36%	40%	+4	34%	34%	0
	Neutral	11%	8%	-3	12%	12%	0
	Not Likely	53%	52%	-1	54%	53%	-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 630 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 215,000 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