MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — West Central Ohio employers expect to hire at a healthy pace during the second quarter of 2017, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.

Among employers surveyed, 24 percent plan to hire more employees from April through June. This number is offset by the 0 percent that plan to reduce payrolls, while 73 percent of employers expect to maintain current staff levels and 3 percent indicate they are not sure of their hiring plans. This yields a net employment outlook of 24 percent.

The net employment outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity.

“Local employers anticipate a stronger hiring pace compared to Quarter No. 1 2017 when the net employment outlook was 5 percent,” said ManpowerGroup spokesperson Joanie Krein. “Last year at this time, employers expected similar hiring activity when the outlook was 23 percent.”

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in construction, durable goods manufacturing, nondurable goods manufacturing, transportation and utilities, wholesale and retail trade, information, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, other services and government. Hiring in financial activities and education and health services is expected to remain unchanged.

Of the more than 11,000 employers surveyed in the United States, 22 percent expect to add to their workforces, and 3 percent expect a decline in their payrolls during the second quarter 2017. Seventy-three percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels, and the remaining 2 percent of employers are undecided about their hiring plans. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the net employment outlook is plus 17 percent, relatively stable compared to the first quarter 2017 outlook, plus 16 percent.