L.A. worker confidence fell in September on expectations that employers would sharply curtail future hiring and that layoffs might increase, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The monthly employment survey from Hudson Inc., a Chicago-based recruiting firm, showed the Los Angeles employment index of worker confidence fell 3.1 points to 93.3 in September and has fallen more than seven points from last September. A score of 100 is considered baseline.

The Los Angeles decline was more severe than in the rest of the nation, where the Hudson employment index dropped two points to 97.1 in September.

The drop was driven by a four-point plunge in the number of L.A. workers who said their companies had plans to hire, to 22 percent. What’s more, 19 percent of workers surveyed said their employers will cut staff in coming months, up two points from August.

The only bright spot in the L.A. survey: workers said their finances were improving. Forty-eight percent rated their finances as “excellent” or “good,” up from 46 percent in August, while only 39 percent said their finances were getting worse, a four-point drop from August.