Baltimore-area hiring outlook for 2013 improves

Here’s a stocking stuffer for the unemployed: Baltimore-area companies plan to increase hiring in early 2013.

A new Manpower Employment Outlook Survey found that 22 percent of companies interviewed in the Baltimore area plan to hire in the first quarter. That’s up from 17 percent in the year-ago quarter and 14 percent in the fourth quarter of this year.

Another 64 percent of companies said they expect to maintain their current workforce levels in the first quarter and 2 percent are uncertain…