WASHINGTON — Companies are increasingly confident the economy will grow at a modest pace over the next year and are hiring more, according to a survey of business economists.
Nearly one-third of the economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said their companies added jobs in the April-June quarter. That's the highest percentage in nearly two years. And 39 percent expect to hire more in the next six months. That's near a two-year high reached in the January-March quarter.
The hiring pickup occurred even though sales and profit growth has slowed.
But optimism about future economic growth increased. Nearly three-quarters of the survey respondents forecast growth of 2.1 percent or more over the next year. That's up from two-thirds in the previous survey and the most in a year.
![Attendees of Frostbike made their way through the convention Saturday at the Quality Bike Products campus in Minneapolis. ] (AARON LAVINSKY/STAR TRIBUNE) aaron.lavinsky@startribune.com Frostbike 2016 was held at the Quality Bike Products Campus on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 in Bloomington, Minn.](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/NH2BSHB74ND2V6GF2G2HI5X4MM.jpg?&w=252&ar=3:2&fit=crop)
