New York State employers remain among the nation’s least optimistic about the likelihood of hiring in the second quarter of 2005, a new nationwide survey from Manpower Inc. shows.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, which is conducted quarterly by Manpower Inc., found that three in 10 U.S. employers plan an increase in hiring activity, a company release said. Another 7 percent expect to decrease staff levels, for a nationwide net of 23 percent. Nearly six of 10 employers, 58 percent, said they expect no change in hiring activity, Manpower said.

Using the same "net" figure to evaluate individual states’ optimism about the likelihood of hiring, New York State ranks only 41st in the nation, tied with three other states with a net of 16 percent.

That 16 percent net is based on survey results showing that 23 percent of New York employers planning to step up hiring activity with 7 percent planning to decrease hiring. Another 65 percent said they expect no change.

The survey suggested that the state with the employers who are most optimistic about hiring in the second quarter is Montana, where 57 percent of respondents said they expected to increase hiring and 0 percent said they expect to decrease hiring.

Vermont had a net of -14 percent, with 14 percent expecting to increase hiring and 28 percent expecting to decrease hiring.

In New York, optimism about hiring was strongest in Ulster County (47 percent) and the Capital Region: Schenectady (40 percent), Saratoga Springs (33 percent), Troy (33 percent), and Albany (23 percent). Long Island (20 percent) and New York City (20 percent) both had below-average numbers of respondents expecting to hire.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is based on interviews with more than 35,000 public and private employers nationwide.