Factories, service firms cool on hiring: NY Fed

Factories across New York State and service firms in the metropolitan area are less bullish about adding employees in the next 12 months than they were in 2014, according to two surveys released this week.

Earlier this month the Federal Reserve Bank of New York polled about 100 manufacturers in the state. It found 36 percent of the plants expected to increase hiring in 2016. That represents a decline from November 2014, when nearly 50 percent of plants said they planned to enlarge their payrolls in the following year.

The bank found the number of factories planning job cuts in the next year was 16 percent this month and 10 percent in November 2014.

In a separate survey of about 100 retailers and other service firms in the metropolitan area, the New York Fed found there also was a decline in the number saying they anticipated taking on more workers in the next 12 months, though it was less marked: 40 percent this month compared with 44 percent in November 2014.

Among service firms, the number expecting to issue pink slips was 12 percent, unchanged year over year.

"When asked about factors restraining hiring plans . . . an inability to find workers with required skills was rather widely cited among service-sector respondents, more so than in last year's survey," the bank said.

Weak sales was the only reason cited more frequently by service firms -- and factories as well -- for not adding workers in 2016. "Low sales growth was deemed the most important factor -- as was the case in earlier surveys," the bank said.

Nearly half the manufacturers and service firms surveyed said the size of their workforces would remain the same in 2016.