Staffing industry employment grew to an average of 3.05 million jobs per day in the third quarter of 2007-a new third-quarter high and only the third time on record that the industry has surpassed the 3 million mark, according to data released Nov. 26 by the American Staffing Association (ASA).
Results of the ASA quarterly employment and sales survey indicate that staffing jobs increased 2.3 percent over the same period in 2006. The third-quarter rate of job growth was the highest in five quarters.
"The ASA Staffing Index, which measures weekly changes in temporary and contract employment, shows a mostly flat August followed by a strong September and continued growth in October," said ASA President and CEO Richard Wahlquist. "While softer demand affected our members earlier in the year, we are seeing some increased demand in the second half, particularly for employees with higher skill and education levels."
Released three days before the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) monthly employment situation report, the ASA Staffing Index offers a preview of the BLS's non-seasonally adjusted data for temporary help employment. Two numbers are reported weekly. The first is the weekly percentage change in staffing employment. The second is the index itself, which shows staffing employment trends over time. The baseline value for the ASA Staffing Index was set at 100 in June 2006.
At 109, the October ASA Staffing Index eclipsed September's record high of 108. After maintaining the previous record high of 108 for the week of Sept. 17-23, the index crept up to 109 for the week of Sept. 24-30 and held onto its new record for the weeks of Oct. 1-7 and Oct. 8-14.
U.S. sales of temporary and contract staffing services also hit a quarterly record high of $18.9 billion, according to the survey. That is an increase of 3.6 percent over the same period of the previous year and the strongest rate of growth in a year and a half.
U.S. staffing companies employ approximately 2 million temporary and contract employees annually, according to the ASA. The most recent BLS projections show that the U.S. staffing industry will grow faster and add more new jobs in the coming years than just about any other industry-growing at an average annual rate of 3.8 percent and adding nearly 1.6 million new jobs from 2004 through 2014.
SHRM
