Almost half of all staffing firms report gains in new assignments
After the seasonal end-of-year dip in December, staffing employment rose in the week of Jan. 8-14, with the ASA Staffing Index increasing by 4.0% to a rounded value of 88. Some staffing companies mentioned a holiday and inclement weather as primary factors that limited further growth.
Despite two straight weeks of growth, staffing jobs were 12.5% below the same week last year.
New starts in the second week of the year were up 19.2% from the prior week. Almost half of all staffing companies (48%) reported gains in new assignments week to week.
The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average decreased from the prior week to a rounded value of 86, and temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending Jan. 14 was 9.6% lower than the same period in 2023.
“Staffing employment is rising in line with seasonal patterns of expansion, but its momentum is lagging behind prior years due to accelerated economic headwinds within the broader labor market,” said Noah Yosif, chief economist at ASA.
This week will be used in the January monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Feb. 2.
The ASA Staffing Index is reported nine days after each workweek, making it a near real-time measure of staffing employment trends. ASA Staffing Starts are the number of temporary and contract employees placed in new assignments during the reporting week. ASA research shows that staffing employment has historically been a coincident economic indicator.
