As she sifts through a second quarter job outlook survey, Manpower, Inc. Regional Business Development Manager Beth Mathison says she's more hopeful for job creation than last year.

"In Wisconsin and Minnesota, we're actually higher than the national average,” she says.

This year, 15 percent of companies surveyed by Manpower in Minnesota and Wisconsin say they're looking to hire, up a bit from 14 percent in 2009.

The biggest difference comes from keeping the workforce steady. In 2010, 73 percent say they won't cut jobs, opposed to last year's 67 percent.

"What we're hearing from the people we work with is that the date matches up," says Mathison.

Across town, the Eau Claire Job Center says it's seen a big jump in the amount of jobs posted just in the past few weeks.

"Just in the past 15 days, we've had 95 job postings, and out of those postings there's 285 openings,” says Workforce Resource Coordinator Dan Lytle. “A lot of industries increase in work when the season changes."

Manpower, Inc., which is based in Milwaukee, says the hospitality and tourism industries, as well as construction, may see an upturn in this area, and the job center agrees.

"We're seeing a lot more in the service industries, and a lot more entry level jobs,” says Lytle.

And as the weather continues to warm, Lytle says he expects the job market to heat up, too.

"I think over the summer we'll see some positive, permanent changes,” says Lytle.

Mathison says the outlook for Wisconsin and Minnesota is much better than the rest of the Midwest, which lagged behind the rest of the nation in the job growth forecast.

To read the full survey results from Manpower, Inc., click on the link at the top of this page.