Norfolk keeps lid on hiring

CARY, North Carolina (Reuters) - Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) has put a lid on hiring, the head of the No. 4 U.S. railroad said on Thursday.

"We are effectively doing no hiring to speak of," said Charles (Wick) Moorman, Norfolk chief executive officer, in an interview. "We will go higher where we have a skill-set need, but we're not out hiring on any consistent basis."

Moorman, who was attending the Business Council gathering of U.S. CEOs in Cary, North Carolina, doubted consumer spending would come back strongly.

"Unemployment is high and there's no reason to think it's not going to remain high," said Moorman in an interview with Reuters.

The company will continue to invest in building more rail infrastructure in coming years.

"We have a critical role to play in what is looking like, if not already upon us, a transportation crisis in this country because of highway congestion," he said. "If this country is going to be more competitive, we're going to have to figure out how to move freight. That's what we're focused on."

(Reporting by Chelsea Emery; editing by Andre Grenon)