U.S. hiring in the fourth quarter is expected to weaken with 22% of employers saying they will add staff and 5% saying they plan layoffs, ManpowerGroup reported Tuesday.

The global temporary employment compan, surveyed 11,500 employers across the country, including in the 100 top Metropolitan Statistical Areas, asking “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of December 2019 compared to the current quarter?” to determine intentions for the rest of the year.

The report comes on the heels of Friday’s unemployment report that pegged the jobless rate at 3.7 percent for the third straight month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday 7.2 million job openings at the end of July with hirings nudging out separations, 6 million to 5.8 million.

Manpower found the vast majority of employers, 72%, said they planned no changes in their workforces while 1% said they didn’t know what they would do. Net employment gains for the quarter were expected to be 17% but seasonally adjusting the data pushes the number to 20%, down a single point from the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2018.

Weaker hiring patterns were reported in all four U.S. regions compared with last quarter, with the most serious weakness in the South.

“Hiring prospects are slightly weaker in five nationwide industry sectors when compared with the previous quarter, including the financial activities sector where the outlook is the weakest reported in two years. Employers in the information, nondurable goods manufacturing, professional and business services and transportation and utilities sectors also report slightly weaker hiring plans,” Manpower said.

Greatest hiring prospects were in the leisure and hospitality industry, with 30% of employers expecting to make gains and 9% forecasting layoffs. Second best hiring prospects were in the wholesale/retail sector, followed by business and professional services.

Lowest prospects were in the information and mining sectors.

Regionally, the Midwest is expected to show the most strength.

“Employers in 21 percent of the businesses surveyed expect to grow payrolls during the next three months. With 5 percent of employers expecting to trim payrolls and 73 percent anticipating no change, the net employment outlook stands at 16%. Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation, the outlook remains relatively stable in comparison with the previous quarter and improves by 2 percentage points when compared with this time one year ago,” Manpower said.

As far as major cities go, the greatest hiring prospects are in Columbus, Ohio, where net employment gains are pegged at 31%, followed by Richmond, Virginia; Greensboro, North Carolina, and Provo-Orem, Utah.

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