There are more employers who expect a decrease in their payrolls over the next 3 months than there are employers who expect an increase, according to a survey of 28,000 employers by Manpower, Inc.

While 12 percent of respondents said they expected to increase staff from October through December, 14 percent of employers said they expected to decrease payrolls. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they expected no changes to their payrolls.

"The hiring intentions of U.S. companies continue to be sluggish," said Jeff Joerres, chairman and CEO of Manpower. "While there are areas within the U.S. which are showing an uptick, we have yet to see the robust hiring intentions that would indicate a full labor market recovery."

After seasonal adjustment, Manpower's Net Employment Outlook for the fourth quarter of 2009 is -3%, the weakest in the history of the survey, which began in 1962.