According to the Randstad Employee Confidence Index, which gauges workers' employment confidence and optimism in the economic environment, rose by 0.8 points to 45.6 in October.

"Worker confidence in the economy and in the job market continues its sluggish climb back to higher levels this month," says Joanie Ruge, senior vice president and chief employment analyst of Randstad Holding U.S. "Results from our Employee Confidence Index mirror the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, which showed improvement for the second month in a row. It appears that many businesses and consumers alike are feeling uncertain in terms of a recovery in the near term due to mixed economic signals.

"While we anticipate modest growth for the remainder of this year, we are optimistic that we will see healthier hiring activity in 2012 — albeit slow-moving. This is particularly beneficial for the temporary staffing sector as many companies rely on these services to maintain a flexible headcount and to locate hard-to-find skill sets in the recovery process. We are also seeing growth in permanent placement positions and expect this trend to continue heading into the new year."