text: U.S. Company Hiring Seen Up from Year Ago  NEW YORK (Reuters) - The pace of hiring for U.S. companies  in the fourth quarter is expected to be consistent with the  solid employment activity of the past six months, and much  improved from a year ago, according to Manpower Inc. &lt;A HREF="http://www.investor.reuters.com/FullQuote.aspx?ticker=MAN.N target=/stocks/quickinfo/fullquote"&gt;MAN.N&lt;/A&gt;.