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Staffing Industry Leads Overall U.S. Job Growth in November

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the staffing industry led overall job growth in the U.S. economy during November, adding nearly 40,000 new jobs. Seasonally adjusted staffing employment rose 1.8% from October and was 19.2% higher than November of last year. This is the 14th month of growth for the industry since resuming growth in October 2009.

"While there was little holiday cheer in this morning's jobs report, the news continues to be more upbeat for staffing firms and the millions of people they place and employ every day," said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer in response to the BLS November report. "The sustained increased in demand for temporary help over the past year clearly shows that the economy is moving in the right direction; just not fast enough. ASA members expect to see more businesses increase the size of their flexible and permanent talent pools in the year ahead."

The Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) presented the December Staffing Industry Report on December 7, 2010. They shared a positive outlook for the industry for the remainder of the year through 2011. While the SIA temporary employment penetration rate is not back to 1999/2000 record levels it continues to improve. The SIA projects that there will be double digit growth in the staffing industry for the end of 2010 into 2011 because the staffing industry, unlike the overall economy, is growing robustly and will continue to outpace the general economy as the business cycle moves from recession to expansion.

Industrial staffing continues to lead the industry with 16 months of widespread improvement reported in the Staffing Industry Monthly Pulse Survey and a forecasted 25% increase in 2010. It was also worth noting that direct hiring has now seen 10 months of widespread improvement according to the survey despite the continued slow recovery of the U.S. economy.

On December 8, 2010, Staff Management reported that as a result of fourth quarter hiring activity for this holiday season the company has surpassed all previous records set in its more than 22 year history for number of associates paid in a week. This achievement caps what has been a strong year for our company as a result of tremendous hard work and dedication from our team and great partnership from our clients.