Staffing employment dipped slightly in the week of May 8-14, with the ASA Staffing Index decreasing by 0.4% to a rounded value of 99. Staffing companies did not mention any one primary factor as a barrier preventing further growth. Staffing jobs were 6.4% below the same week last year.
New starts in the 19th week of the year were stable, inching down just 0.1% from the prior week. Almost four in 10 staffing companies (38%) reported gains in new assignments week to week.
The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average increased from the prior week to a rounded value of 99, and temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending May 14 was 6.5% lower than the same period in 2022.
“After four straight weeks of staffing job growth, staffing employment has started to retreat,” said Tim Hulley, ASA assistant director of research.
This week will be used in the May monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 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.
