CHICAGO, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. job market should hold steady in 2014 if lawmakers in Washington settle differences over the debt ceiling, a national survey found.
Private employment giant CareerBuilder said a Nov. 6 to Dec. 2 survey found 24 percent of employers indicated they would add full-time, permanent employees in 2014, down from 26 percent in the year-end poll last year.
Nearly 1-in-4 employers indicated they would be cautious about hiring in 2014 or postpone hiring completely until lawmakers resolve their differences over the debt ceiling.
"What we saw in our survey was reluctance for some employers to commit to adding jobs until the outcomes of debt negotiations and other issues affecting economic expansion are clearer," said Matt Ferguson, chief executive officer of CareerBuilder.
"As these stories play out and employers find their footing in the new year, there is greater potential for the average monthly job creation in 2014 to exceed that of 2013."
CareerBuilder said STEM jobs -- jobs in science, technology, engineering and math -- are "expected to take center stage," with 26 percent of employers expecting to create them at some point in 2014.
CareerBuilder said an even higher percentages of employers -- 30 percent -- expect to create jobs in sales. This was followed by 29 percent expecting to create jobs in information technology and 25 percent indicating they would create jobs in customer service.
The year will see an expansion in part-time jobs, CareerBuilder said.
Seventeen percent of employers indicated they would recruit part-time workers, a jump from 14 percent in last year's survey.
More companies are planning to import jobs from overseas in 2014, the survey found.
In 2013, 23 percent of companies that have offshore jobs indicated they brought some of them back to the United States. In 2014, the number indicating they would do the same is 26 percent, CareerBuilder said.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive. The results carry a margin of error of plus and minus 2.09 percentage points, CareerBuilder said.
