More U.S. employers said they plan to boost payrolls in the second quarter, and fewer expect to reduce headcounts, a private survey found.

Manpower Inc., the world’s second-largest provider of temporary workers, said today that 16 percent plan to add workers in the April-June period, up from 14 percent in the first quarter. The share of those projecting workforce reductions fell to 6 percent from 10 percent.

The figures add to evidence that job prospects are beginning to improve for Americans, helping bolster incomes and sustaining the consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Labor Department figures on March 4 showed payrolls increased by 192,000 last month and the unemployment rate fell to an almost two-year low of 8.9 percent.

“There is a steady, consistent demand for employees — it’s just not so robust that we should be dancing in the streets,” Jeffrey Joerres, chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based Manpower, said in an interview. “We’re seeing good strength in manufacturing.”

The company’s second-quarter employment gauge held at 8 percent compared with the previous three months. It rose from 6 percent in the April-June 2010 period on a seasonally adjusted basis. Unadjusted, the net employment measure increased to 10 percent in the second quarter from 8 percent a year earlier.

Manpower’s index subtracts the percentage of employers planning to cut jobs from those who plan to hire and adjusts the results for seasonal variations.

Last Five Quarters

About seven of every 10 employers said they anticipated staff levels will not change in the April to June period, an outlook that differs little from the last five quarters.

All 13 industries surveyed, including construction and government, anticipated a net increase in second-quarter hiring compared with the prior three months. Employers in the mining and leisure and hospitality industries were most optimistic as both expected payrolls to expand a net 21 percent.

Construction companies projected staff would grow a net 6 percent after a 9 percent drop in the last survey. Federal, state and local government employment was estimated to increase by a net 1 percent, compared with no change at the beginning of this year.

The Labor Department’s report on March 4 also showed a measure of the share of industries showing job gains last month rose to 68.2, the highest since May 1998. Factory payrolls increased by 33,000, exceeding the survey forecast of a 25,000 gain. Employment at service-providers rose 122,000. Construction payrolls climbed 33,000 and transportation and warehousing jobs increased by 22,000. Retail trade employment declined 8,100.

Each of the four major U.S. regions in the Manpower survey expected hiring to increase a seasonally adjusted 8 percent.

Manpower interviewed more than 18,000 employers in the U.S. The survey is conducted quarterly and has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.6 percentage point in the U.S.

Glattbrugg, Switzerland-based Adecco SA is the world’s biggest supplier of temporary workers.