Data Show Industry Employment Edging Up

Data Show Industry Employment Edging Up

http://www.americanstaffing.net/statistics/staffing_index.cfm

Since the beginning of July, the ASA Staffing Index has increased 15.7%, suggesting that temporary and contract employment is recovering from the weakened demand for staffing services triggered by the recent economic recession.

From December 2008 to January 2009, temporary and contract employment experienced the largest one-month decline recorded since the inception of the index in June 2006. Staffing industry employment during the first half of this year was then mostly flat until July, when an overall trend of steady growth began to emerge. The index, which began the year at 69, is currently at 81, indicating that industry employment has increased 17.4% since January.

Recent research released by ASA member company Yoh provides further evidence that staffing employment is headed for a recovery. According to the Yoh Index of Technology Wages, which measures changes in employer demand and supply of U.S. technology workers, wages remained consistent and trended slightly upward during the first half of 2009. Lori Schultz of Yoh says, "The continued demand for highly specialized technical workers, paired with the stability in associated wages, leads us to be cautiously optimistic that economic restoration is in progress."

The ASA Staffing Index, which estimates weekly changes in the number of people employed in temporary and contract work, was developed to provide a current measure of staffing industry employment trends. To learn how your company can participate in the ASA Staffing Index survey, visit americanstaffing.net.


Alexandra Karaer