As I write this column, the past week has included two bits of troubling news regarding employment. National unemployment statistics reached 9.7% for August-the highest in 26 years-according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the heels of the BLS report, Manpower Inc. released the results of its survey on hiring. Here it reports that Europe and Asia will see increased hiring rates vs. the United States, which will lag behind those regions until at least the first quarter of 2010.