The Associated Press

Shore-area employment agencies said yesterday that hiring is picking up, but they don't expect strong growth until the threat of war with Iraq is resolved.

Their comments mirrored a national report by the employment agency Manpower Inc. that showed the job market will improve but remain sluggish in the second quarter.

"January was very encouraging," said Barbara Davis, who owns employment agencies in Red Bank and Freehold," but I don't think things will move one way or the other until they see what happens in the Middle East."

Manpower's national survey of 16,000 businesses found that 22 percent of employers expect to hire more people during the second quarter, while 9 percent intend to cut their work forces. Other companies will keep their work forces the same or are uncertain about hiring prospects.

Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Manpower, said the results mean job-seekers still will have trouble finding full-time work between April and June.

In a previous study of prospects for this year's first quarter, 20 percent of employers said they expected increased hiring, while 12 percent intended to reduce their work forces.

For the second quarter of last year 21 percent expected to add employees, and 10 percent of employers predicted job cuts.

Frank Wyckoff, owner of Snelling Personnel Services and the Wyckoff Group, said his employment agency is seeing steady but modest demand for workers in construction, mortgage and finance, health care, legal services and insurance."I think it's going to be like this until the third quarter," said Wyckoff, who has offices in Eatontown and Lakewood.

Manpower, the nation's largest staffing company, has conducted the survey for 26 years. Joerres said this quarter's results were unusually varied across regions and sectors.

The Northeast had the weakest forecast - slightly better than this time last year, but not as vigorous as three months ago. The construction sector had the most active hiring plans, but transportation and public utility companies anticipated the most negative hiring conditions in seven years.

Employers in the South were the most optimistic about job prospects.

The nation's service sector is showing some signs of hiring and the key construction and manufacturing industries are slowly rebounding after a couple of stagnant years, Joerres said.

But Joerres said companies see weak demand, coupled with uncertainty over a possible war with Iraq.

"They're paralyzed right now and that's justified. Companies aren't going to want to invest or get too far ahead of themselves until they can see a clearer path."

Business writer Michael L. Diamond contributed to this story.

Asbury Park Press, Business Section, February 25, 2003