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Job outlook for Los Angeles expected to improve, survey says

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The unemployment rate in Los Angeles might be at a whopping 12.5% right now, but the prognosis is good for jobs in the second quarter of the year, according to a survey released Tuesday.

About 17% of local employers plan to hire in the three-month period ending in June, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, while 11% say they’ll reduce their payrolls and 66% will maintain their current staffing levels.

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That means that the net employment outlook, calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers planning to cut jobs from the percentage of employers planning to hire, is 6%. In the first quarter, that outlook was -3%. A year ago, that outlook was -11%.

Hiring will be strong in construction, manufacturing, information, financial activities, professional and business services, education and health services and leisure and hospitality (education refers to private, rather than public, education). Employers in transportation and utilities, retail trade and government, which includes public schools, will reduce payrolls.

The picture for Los Angeles is slightly better than the national average -- nationally, 16% say they’ll increase their staff levels. Los Angeles is one of 10 cities emerging more quickly from the recession than the rest of the country, according to a Forbes study released last week.

Despite these prognostications, the current job picture is still shaky in the county. January jobless figures released Friday show that Los Angeles County lost 73,700 jobs between December and January. The county has lost 176,500 jobs between January 2009 and January 2010.

-- Alana Semuels

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