More and better-paying jobs on tap for summer hires

More than half of employers offering summer jobs have openings that pay $15 an hour or more.

That's according to an annual survey of more than 2,000 human resource managers conducted by Harris Poll and commissioned by online jobs site CareerBuilder.

While 53 percent said they would have open positions that pay at least $15 an hour, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, 72 percent of employers said they would pay their summer hires $10 or more an hour on average, up from 64 percent in 2014.

Thirty-six percent of private-sector companies said they are hiring seasonal workers this summer, up from 30 percent last year and an average of 21 percent during the recession doldrums of 2008 to 2011.

"The growing number of employers adding seasonal help in good-paying jobs this summer is a strong indicator of labor market momentum," CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson said in a statement."We expect this year's positive outlook to carry over into full-time hiring across industries and job types."

The prospect of summer work evolving into full-time employment is also improving, the survey found, with 77 percent of those polled saying they would considering some summer hires for permanent positions.

Leisure and hospitality businesses, closely followed by information technology and financial services, were the leading sectors in need of summer workers.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people 16 to 24 employed during the summer of 2014 reached 20.1 million overall - a rise of 2.1 million more workers and a 1.2 percent increase over the prior year.