John McCain for President 2008

[*~1Best~*]

American blood is boiling over sick Bush economy - doggy markets.

Manpower Withdraws Forecast on Bleak December
EMPLOYMENT, LABOR, ECONOMY, UNEMPLOYMENT JOBS
Reuters
| 22 Dec 2008 | 09:32 AM ET

U.S. staffing services company Manpower withdrew its fourth-quarter profit forecast Monday, saying demand for temporary workers had been light in December as a spreading global recession prompted U.S. industrial firms to idle plants to cut costs.

"Demand for our services will be especially weak in December as we are hearing that many of our light industrial clients are taking prolonged plant shutdowns around the holidays compared to last year," said Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive of the world's No. 2 staffing company.

Revenue fell 20 percent in October and November, with the the strengthening dollar weighing on results. Factoring out currency fluctuations, revenue would have been down 11 percent.

Wall Street had expected revenue to fall 12.3 percent in the quarter, with analysts on average looking for $4.94 billion in revenue, down from $5.63 billion a year earlier, according to Reuters Estimates.

Investors had expected per-share earnings to tumble 42 percent to 96 cents.

The company said it would take an unspecified fourth-quarter charge for employee severance and office closings.

Manpower, which trails Switzerland's Adecco SA, warned Wall Street in October that fourth-quarter profit would be lower than investors had forecast.

As of Friday's close, Manpower shares were down 36 percent so far this year, a milder slide than the 40 percent decline of the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index.
Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/28350253/