A local employment agency expects the job market to increase in the last months of 2005.

According to a recent report by Manpower, 2492 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore, 27 percent of all corporations interviewed in the DeKalb and Sycamore area will be hiring in the fourth quarter of 2005. This includes the months of October, November and December.

These reports tend to be accurate because those in charge of hiring new staff are the ones responding to the interview, Manpower branch manager Stacy Safranek said.

Factors affecting the economy often affect this report as well.

“Hurricane Katrina may have had an important impact on this survey,” Safranek said.

It is hard to tell how this will turn out since many evacuees relocated from the south, and they will be looking for work in this area, she said.

Several industries are expected to suffer from the recent natural disasters.

“You might expect an adverse effect on the economy,” associate economics professor Virginia Wilcox-Gok said.

There is also a dampening effect on the oil supply as some refineries are shut down on the Gulf Coast. Almost all industries will be negatively affected by this, she said.

Different areas of the labor market expect different growth rates.

Companies producing durable and non-durable goods, including stone, wood, metals and food products among others, reported to be the most willing to expand in the fourth quarter, Safranek said.

To the contrary, the construction industry, which expanded greatly in the past, will be likely to contract in the next months, she said.

Members of the community are expected to benefit in the future because of the strong job market.

“This is a pretty good sign”, said Cindy Henderson, associate director of Career Services at NIU.

Students in the community will have a higher chance of finding employment, she said.

Other areas in Illinois expect different growth rate.

The areas with the best employment outlook are Peoria and Northbrook, where 53 and 40 percent of firms interviewed will be expanding workforce, Safranek said.

According to the survey, areas such as Carbondale and Lake County will experience lower percentages of employment expansion.