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California Employment Report: Employee Confidence Index Drops 3 Points in October

LOS ANGELES, Calif., November 20, 2009 –The California Employee Confidence Index dropped by three points to 42.9 in October, according to the latest Spherion^® Employment Report. The monthly survey of California workers, conducted by Harris Interactive^® on behalf of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), uncovers that California workers’ confidence has declined for the second consecutive month. This decline is primarily driven by fewer workers reporting confidence in the overall strength of the economy, job availability and in their own ability to find a new job.

Results from the California Employment Report:

More workers believe the economy is getting weaker. Specifically, 42 percent versus 34 percent in September.
·Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of workers believe there are fewer jobs available in October, an increase of five percentage points from the previous month.
In October, fewer workers (29 percent) were confident in their ability to find a new job, dropping five percentage points from September.

“This year has undoubtedly been a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs for California workers, as our Index decreased for the second consecutive month in October,” explained Brian Veverka, senior branch manager for Spherion. “However, this is to be expected, as the path to economic stability has been hailed as long and winding. Despite this, we are quite optimistic about what we are hearing from our local clients and prospects, and remain hopeful about the remainder of the year and into 2010. Specifically, we are anticipating pockets of hiring and growth within the warehousing, distribution, mortgage processing, tax accounting and IT services industries.”

October 2009 Employment Report Results		California Workers			U.S. Workers
		Sept.	Oct.	% Point Change	Sept.	Oct.	% Point Change
Economy	Getting Stronger	23%	19%	-4	27%	23%	-4
	Staying Same	43%	39%	-4	39%	41%	+2
	Getting Weaker	34%	42%	+8	34%	35%	+1
Job Availability	More Jobs	6%	2%	-4	8%	8%	0
	Same Amount	25%	23%	-2	23%	22%	-1
	Fewer Jobs	69%	74%	+5	69%	70%	+1
Ability to Find New Job	Confident	34%	29%	-5	38%	38%	0
	Neutral	37%	39%	+2	36%	34%	-2
	Not Confident	28%	32%	+4	26%	28%	+2
Future of Current Employer	Confident	54%	57%	+3	63%	64%	+1
	Neutral	29%	27%	-2	24%	24%	0
	Not Confident	18%	16%	-2	13%	12%	-1
Likelihood to Lose Job	Likely	26%	23%	-3	17%	14%	-3
	Neutral	13%	16%	+3	13%	15%	+2
	Not Likely	60%	61%	+1	70%	71%	+1
Likelihood to Look for New Job	Likely	40%	41%	+1	35%	32%	-3
	Neutral	12%	18%	+6	14%	13%	-1
	Not Likely	48%	42%	-6	51%	55%	+4

About the Spherion Employment Report

Methodology

About Harris Interactive

About Spherion Staffing Services

Spherion Staffing Services is a leading recruiting and staffing provider that specializes in placing administrative, clerical, customer service and light industrial candidates in temporary and full-time opportunities. As an industry pioneer for more than 60 years, Spherion Staffing Services has sourced, screened and placed millions of individuals in a multitude of industries throughout our network of offices across the United States and Canada.

Spherion Staffing Services is a division of Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN), which operates a family of specialty brands providing strategic workplace solutions in professional recruiting, outsourcing, managed services and contractor compliance programs, technology services and general staffing. For more information, please visit www.spherion.com.