Richard Bernstein, the well-known strategist, is bullish about 2010, CNBC reported.

Bernstein, the CEO of Richard Bernstein Capital Management and a CNBC contributor, said the outlook for 2010 is looking up.

He said employment will improve as jobless claims have slowly improved.

Traditional retailing will also see an uptick, said Bernstein, the former chief investment strategist and head of the investment strategy group at Merrill Lynch.

The dollar is also “‘likely’ to meaningfully appreciate,” he said.

Stocks and bonds will also rally in 2010, said Bernstein, as U.S. assets will become more “attractive.”

The returns for both bonds and stocks will be positive.

He also predicts that foreign assets will also start making their way to the United States.

Bernstein also said "consumer cyclical stocks probably have strong upside potential.”

"History shows that as long as initial jobless claims trend downward the performance of consumer discretionary stocks trend up," he said.

The job outlook for the first quarter of next year appears to be dismal.

A majority of employers, or 73 percent of 28,000, surveyed by Manpower said they do not intend to make changes in their plans for hiring employees, the Memphis Business Journal reported.

According to the Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey, 12 percent of employers plan to increase and 12 percent plan to reduce their workforce.

“Networking has proven to be the best source for finding new employment,” said Douglas J. Matthews, president and COO for Manpower’s Right Management division

“Job seekers would be well served to invest time in leveraging social networks as part of their networking strategy.”

Right Management is the talent and career management division within Manpower.