The report also adds to evidence that companies probably will wait until the economy is clearly recovering before hiring. Many analysts believe the economy is likely to grow at a healthy 3 percent rate in the second half of this year, pulling the country out of the worst recession since the 1930s. But they also worry the growth will be difficult to sustain once government stimulus measures are no longer in effect.
About one-third of both manufacturing and service sector companies plan to add jobs in September, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. That’s the highest combined total for the two sectors since October 2008, the group said.
And online job postings increased by 5 percent in August from July, according to the Conference Board, to 3.5 million. Still, that was down from 4.6 million a year earlier.
The largest increase in job openings was in health care practitioners and technicians, the Conference Board said, which rose by 52,700 to 574,400. That category includes physical and occupational therapists and registered nurses.
Management jobs rose 18,900 to more than 431,000, while computer and mathematical sciences increased by 8,800 to 406,800, according to the Conference Board’s report.
Some technology companies also are adding workers. IBM Corp. is hiring or retraining up to 4,000 people to work on data analysis projects. It hopes to profit as more businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies seek to use reams of data they have collected to analyze trends.
For example, IBM is helping the New York City police and fire departments use their data to anticipate fires and crime.
“More and more organizations have mountains of data that is valuable for making decisions,’’ said Jim Spohrer, IBM’s director of global university programs. Spohrer’s group is working with colleges and universities worldwide to encourage more training in the field, known as analytics.
