Approximately 89 percent of public accountants in a recent survey believe that businesses will either hire more in 2011 than they did in 2010 or maintain the same employee count from 2010 in 2011.

The survey, by financial analysis technology developer Sageworks, of 226 accounting professionals at firms across the U.S. showed reason for optimism this year. The data demonstrates that financial professionals are seeing encouraging trends for the New Year that suggest 2011 won’t be a worse year for the economy than 2010.

Sageworks found that 23 percent of the accountants polled expect businesses to increase or significantly increase their employee headcount in 2011. Meanwhile, 66.4 percent of accountants surveyed said they expect businesses to maintain their number of employees in 2011 as compared to 2010, and only 10.6 percent predict businesses will reduce or significantly reduce their number of employees this year.

Moreover, a different survey conducted by Sageworks and released in October showed that 57 percent of banks said they plan to make more or significantly more commercial loans in 2011 as compared to 2010. This year will finally indicate the positive effects of the end of the recession on businesses and employment, Sageworks predicts.

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