WASHINGTON (AP) — Companies are increasingly confident the economy will grow at a modest pace over the next year and are hiring more, according to a survey of business economists.

Nearly one-third of the economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics said their companies added jobs in the April-June quarter, according to a report released Monday. That's the highest percentage in nearly two years. And 39 percent expect their firms will hire more in the next six months. That's near the two-year high of 40 percent reached in the January-March quarter.

The hiring pickup occurred even though sales and profit growth slowed in the second quarter.

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