Confidence among Irish employers has risen slightly, with 24 per cent of companies surveyed by the Manpower Group saying they would be increasing staffing levels in the current quarter.
The survey uses a "net job gains" percentage as a key indicator. The figure is calculated by subtracting the percentage of firms expecting a decrease in staffing levels from the percentage expecting a rise.
This represents a three per cent rise on the previous quarter but is still down from the 95 per cent figure recorded by the same survey in the second quarter of this year.
Manpower's Quarterly Survey of Employment Prospects reveals 6 per cent of companies anticipate a reduction in staffing levels in the current quarter, down 3 per cent on the last period.
Seven of the eleven industry sectors surveyed have quarter on quarter increases compared to two out of the eleven the previous quarter, the survey says.
The net jobs balance this quarter is 18 per cent up 6 per cent on the last period.
It said: "Manufacturing shows the second highest jobs balance with 26 per cent of employees expecting to take on more staff next quarter compared to 4 per cent in quarter three."
"The greatest increase quarter on quarter is expected in the retail sector with 22 per cent of companies expecting to increase their staffing levels this quarter compared to 10 per cent in quarter three. This is seasonally anticipated with the forthcoming Christmas period," it added.