More jobs hiring in the South, says survey

Workers dealing with debt counseling have the best chance at getting hired in the South, while employees in the West have the greatest chance of being laid off from their job, according to a Gallup survey released last week.

The Southern region reported the highest percentage of job vacancies in October at 29 percent, a 4 percent increase from September’s figures. The East saw a 3 percent jump in the amount of jobs hiring to have the second highest rate at 27 percent.

The South also was part of a three-way tie for the lowest rate of employers with the Midwest and East at 23 percent.

The West was shown to have the least favorable employment statistics. The survey found that the region had the lowest rate of jobs that were hiring workers at 23 percent, as well as the highest rate of jobs letting peoples go at 25 percent.

Despite the less-than-stellar results in the West, the survey noted that the job situation had "improved significantly" in every region compared to conditions earlier in 2009.

"Still, this means hiring and layoffs remain no better than they were last November as the fallout of the financial crisis was still unfolding," the report read. "And job-market conditions are nowhere near where they were as the recession was getting underway in January 2008.