Despite early optimism from the American workforce that 2010 would be a rebounding year for the job market, a new study shows that summer employment for hourly jobs, at least, won’t improve too much over 2009.

Still, the study released by SnagAJob.com, an hourly employment Web site, shows that the job market might be turning—albeit slowly—around.

According to the study, 29 percent of hiring managers plan on hiring the same number of hourly summer workers in 2010 as they did in the summer of 2009. Another 18 percent of managers plan on hiring fewer workers this summer than they did last, and 6 percent plan to hire more.

Forty-seven percent of managers did not plan to make seasonal hires this summer.

“Given the year that we’ve had, ‘unchanged’ on the summer job front is pretty good news,” said Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com, in a statement release by the company. “It’s a relief that we’re not again seeing the kind of negative trends that we saw when comparing expectations for last summer with ‘08.”

In 2009, 23 percent of hiring managers planned on hiring fewer workers than in the summer of 2008.

Because of the influx of adults who reentered the workforce because of the recession, the study reports that 54 percent of hiring managers think it will be difficult for teenagers—summer’s traditional part-time-job jackpot—to find a summer job in 2010.

The study also reported that 65 percent of positions this summer will be filled by returning workers, while 35 percent will be filled by new employees.

In January, SnagAJob.com released a study that found that 24 percent of Americans believed the job market was improving and 32 percent thought the job market would at least improve soon.

By Sam Oches