Real Estate July 13, 2010, 5:30PM EST

Washington is the Nation's Strongest Job Market

A Manpower survey indicates that more employers intend to increase hiring in the third quarter as the U.S. capital sees the biggest gain

Story Tools

(Updated in the fourth paragraph to identify the correct location of Manpower's headquarters.)

It took more than a year, but Bernice Spicer finally found a job. Spicer, 52, has been working since April as a sales associate at the new Bel Air, Md., store of hhgregg (HGG), an Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer that has been expanding in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Until she was laid off in March 2009, Spicer had for nine years been marketing director for Bel Air's Harford Mall. Suddenly without work, she fell behind on bills, was forced to sell her house, and moved in with her mother. "It wasn't total destitution but it rearranged my lifestyle completely," she says. While some may see her new position as a step down from her former management role, Spicer says: "I was very thankful to be extended the opportunity." She hopes to be promoted within the company.

Spicer was able to seize the opportunity just as fresh jobs arrived in her area—a rare victory for the unemployed these days. Nearly two years after the U.S. economy tumbled, millions continue to feel the financial and emotional stings of unemployment—among them debt, late payments, and anxiety. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in June some 125,000 jobs were lost. Given so much gloom, what's surprising is that more employers are saying they plan to start hiring again.

Milwaukee-based employment services company Manpower (MAN), in its most recent employment-outlook report, says 18 percent of 18,000 employers surveyed nationwide expect to increase full-time, part-time, contract, and temporary hiring in the third quarter, while 8 percent expect a decline in their payrolls. The outlook, although weak compared to that of several years ago, marks an improvement from recent forecasts: From January to March only 12 percent of businesses planned to increase hiring and an equal proportion expected to decrease staff levels.

An additional indicator trending upwards: the volume of online jobs ads has grown consistently from February to June, according to a monthly survey by online jobs site company Monster Worldwide (MWW). New York-based nonprofit the Conference Board further reports that there were 4.15 million unduplicated online ads for U.S. jobs in June, up 26.1 percent year-on-year.

jobs surge in U.S. capital

"We're a lot better off than one year ago" in terms of job availability, says Jeff Quinn, a senior director of research at Monster Worldwide. "Year-on-year there are strong, positive signs. However, we still have not regained all of the ground lost during the recession. It will take some time."

Where is hiring strongest? Businessweek.com ranked the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, based on Manpower's data about businesses' Q1, Q2, and Q3 hiring forecasts. So far this year, Washington has shown the strongest overall employment outlook, followed by San Antonio and Greenville, S.C. Employers display the worst employment outlook in Las Vegas, Reno, Nev., and Detroit.

In Manpower's survey, 23 percent of Washington area employers plan to increase staff levels in the third quarter, while 4 percent plan to decrease employment and 69 percent envision no change.

Washington is the only metropolitan area in which the number of advertised job vacancies in May (201,000) was greater than the number of unemployed (184,600), according to the Conference Board.

By contrast, the New York area had 298,700 online job ads in May—highest among the nation's metro areas—yet the supply of jobs does not meet demand. The region counted 828,400 unemployed people, an 8.7 percent jobless rate, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.