Jul. 31--A major nationwide employment report released Wednesday showed a significant increase in new jobs for July with small businesses leading the upward trend.

But an official with the firm that developed the monthly survey says it's too soon to get excited. Manatee economic officials also released an employer survey that paints a gloomier picture of the local job scene.

The ADP National Employment Report, sponsored by Automatic Data Processing Inc., showed a gain of 9,000 jobs in the private sector for July, compared with a decrease of 77,000 jobs, revised up from 79,000, in June.

Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, which developed and maintains the monthly report surveying roughly 400,000 businesses, said the data is welcome news, but not a sign of a turnaround.

"Given our forecast I would expect several more reports like this that have a very weak tone to them through the end of the year," Prakken said. "I'd rather have plus 9,000 than the minus 79,000 from the previous month. But it's certainly premature to say we've turned the corner."

Michael Bovaird, president of Bradenton-based SophLogic, a provider of SAP brand efficiency software to businesses, said he's seen some positive signs recently in the local economy and he is looking to add employees.

"We're going to be adding people within the next 30 to 60 days," Bovaird said. "We've got three or four positions that we're actively interviewing for and looking to fill."

Those positions would pay salaries in the range of $45,000 to $65,000 a year, Bovaird said.

"The software side of our business is in high gear right now," Bovaird said. "Companies are looking for ways to save money and reduce inventory. We've definitely gotten an uptick in the number of job orders from our staffing side. Mostly it's consulting and training."

Still, the overall local economy has been pummeled of late.

In June, Manatee County's unemployment rate spiked to 6 percent from 4.1 percent a year ago. Sarasota County's unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, compared to 4.3 percent in June of last year.

Nancy Engel, executive director of the Manatee Economic Development Council, said it's somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of what she's hearing from employers.

"We have people that have been hiring and we have those that are just kind of holding their own," Engel said. "It's kind of hard to relate the national trend to what we're seeing locally."

The Economic Development Council on Wednesday released the results of the 2008 Business Climate Survey, which was completed by 122 of 600 businesses asked to participate.

Half of the respondents felt their industries were in worse shape than last year, compared to 35 percent of respondents who felt that way in 2007.

Despite the pessimism, however, a majority of those who responded to the survey expected to maintain current employment levels and were likely to remain in Manatee County for at least the next three years. The most optimistic employment growth projections came from businesses with 11 to 50 employees, according to the survey.

That coincides with the ADP report, which showed that the business size adding the most jobs in July -- a total of 50,000 -- were small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Businesses with 500 or more workers saw employment decline by 32,000.

The ADP report showed the service sector added the most jobs -- a total of 74,000.

There was a 65,000-employee decline in the goods-producing sector. Manufacturing also pared 49,000 jobs.

Construction, which had fueled much of the local economy before the real estate downturn, shed 16,000 jobs in July, one of the smallest declines in recent months. The sector has lost 350,000 jobs since August 2006.

Though service-sector jobs -- which showed the biggest gain in July -- are often viewed as low-paying, poor quality jobs, Prakken said that is not always the case.

He said the sector includes health care services, leisure and entertainment services, and even certain engineering jobs.

"There are plenty of good-paying jobs in the service sector," Prakken said. "It would certainly be a mistake to say it is hamburger-flippers."

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Story Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)