NEW YORK (AP) -- The job market should remain strong through the summer, with the highest demand for workers expected in Western states, according to a survey being released Monday. A quarterly survey of more than 15,000 companies by Manpower Inc. reported that 32 percent planned to increase hiring in the third quarter. Just 6 percent anticipated cutbacks, while 58 percent foresaw no change. The remaining 4 percent were unsure, the survey said. The figures were almost identical to the year-earlier tallies and up slightly from the April-June period, when 29 percent of the companies surveyed said they planned to increase their staffs. In that survey, 6 percent planned reductions, 61 percent said hiring needs were unchanged and 4 percent said they were unsure. The findings by Manpower suggest that strong job creation should continue to hold U.S. unemployment in check. The nation's unemployment rate has been at or below 4.5 percent for the past 12 months, the best showing in three decades. Jeffrey Joerres, president and chief executive officer of Manpower, based in Milwaukee, said the totals reflected ``a steady demand for new employees that has persisted over the past nine quarters'' in American's longest peacetime economic expansion. He described it as ``a protracted period of opportunity for workers of nearly all types.'' Manpower, the nation's largest temporary staffing business, said the strongest market for workers would be in Western states, where some 35 percent of survey respondents said they planned additional hiring in the July-September quarter. The report said that hiring projections this year by both service firms and public administration in the Western region represents ``a level of activity not seen ... in two decades.'' The Midwest region, generally the third-quarter employment leader, had its traditional strong demand for summertime construction workers but a soft market for workers in durable goods manufacturing, Manpower said. Nationwide, the outlook among durable goods manufacturers -- the makers of products such as computers, appliances and autos -- in the July-September quarter ``is slightly below that of the corresponding period last year for the fifth consecutive quarter.'' Manpower's survey was based on telephone interviews with more than 15,000 employers in 484 U.S. cities. The company said its figures have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. -=-=- 