BANGOR – If a national survey is correct, one-fifth of all Bangor area employers plan to reduce their work forces in the next three months.

The outlook for the Bangor area is being called “one of the weakest in the nation” while nearly one-quarter of all employers throughout the country plan to add jobs, according to a survey being released today by Manpower Inc., a hiring agency.

“Employers are less optimistic about hiring than they were a year ago when 7 percent of companies surveyed thought employment increases were likely and none intended to cut back,” said Lydia Sy, a Bangor spokeswoman for Manpower, in a statement.

According to Manpower’s survey, 7 percent of the unidentified number of Bangor area companies interviewed said they planned to hire more employees, while 20 percent expected to cut payrolls, and 63 percent said they were going to maintain current staffing levels. Another 10 percent said they were unsure of their staffing plans.

Laura Fortman, commissioner of the state Department of Labor, questions Manpower’s survey. She said Labor Department data show a “slow, steady increase” in the number of jobs created statewide during the next year. The state Consensus Economic Forecasting Committee expects about 10,000 new jobs, but does not identify how many will be added in different parts of the state.

About 718,000 people are employed in Maine, not counting workers who fill seasonal jobs.

Fortman said the Labor Department surveys 2,000 statewide employers monthly about their job outlooks, while the Manpower survey interviewed only 16,000 companies nationwide.

Statewide, 31 percent of all employers plan to add jobs in Portland while 10 percent plan to do so in Augusta-Waterville, according to the Manpower survey.

Three percent of employers in southern York County plan to cut jobs while 17 percent plan to do so in Portland and Augusta-Waterville, according to the Manpower survey.

Most employers – from 52 percent in Portland to 73 percent in Augusta-Waterville – plan to maintain current staffing levels, the survey stated.

Job prospects are in nondurable goods manufacturing, public administration, finance-insurance-real estate, education and services, Manpower stated.

Nationally, 10 percent of the 16,000 employers surveyed by Manpower said they would be cutting jobs, while 59 percent said they expect no change in staffing levels. Twenty-four percent plan to add jobs.

“The job picture moving into 2005 is decidedly more upbeat than it was at the start of 2004,” said Jeffry A. Joerres, chairman and chief executive officer of Manpower, in a statement. “For the past three quarters, employers’ hiring intentions have been steady and strong. The current survey results tell us that they are equally prepared to hire staff as they enter the new year.”