Seasonal hiring intentions remain improved

CHICAGO, May 16 (UPI) -- U.S. job seekers for summer 2013 are expected to see the same number of opportunities as they did in 2012, a national survey of hiring managers indicates.

Employment firm CareerBuilder said 29 percent of employers responding to a survey indicated they expected to hire seasonal workers this year.

That is "unchanged from 2012," CareerBuilder said. However, it is a significant improvement compared to the 2008-11 average, when 21 percent of employers indicated they would hire for the summer.

CareerBuilder said 20 percent of the seasonal jobs would have wages of $16 per hour or more.

Two-thirds of the respondents indicated they would pay $10 per hour or more, a slight increase from 2012 when 64 percent indicated wages would be at that level.

Thirty-four percent indicated they would pay $7.25 to $9.99 per hour.

Forty-six percent indicated they would pay $10 to $15.99 per hour. Eleven percent more indicated they would pay $16 to $19.99 per hour, CareerBuilder said.

Nine percent indicated wages would be $20 per hour or more.

Nearly half of the hiring managers in hospitality and leisure businesses -- 47 percent -- indicated they would hire this summer. That industry posted the highest percentage of hiring managers indicating they had plans to hire for the summer.

Hospitality and leisure was followed by information technology (34 percent) and retail (33 percent).

Most of the hiring -- 53 percent -- would be done in May or June, the survey found.

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder Feb. 11 to March 6. It included interviews with 2,000 hiring managers.

The results of the survey are accurate with a margin of error of plus and minus 2.1 percentage points, it can be said with 95 percent certainty.