Staffing Growth Grabs Media Attention

Staffing Growth Grabs Media Attention

Economists, analysts, and journalists across the country lauded the 34,000 jobs created by temporary help services in October—as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Nov. 6—as the bright spot in an otherwise dismal employment report. ASA reported on the BLS data in the Nov. 9 issue of Staffing Week.

The Wall Street Journal cited temporary employment growth in four articles in the Nov. 7–8 weekend edition alone. In one article, White House economist Jared Bernstein pointed to the uptick in temporary employment, saying, "That suggests employers are dipping, maybe not their big toe, but their little toe in the hiring waters."

The newspaper's front-page article in that issue, "Grim Milestone as Jobless Rate Tops 10%," cited the growth in temporary employment as "a forward-looking indicator" and reinforced the point in a note on an accompanying graph. And the lead editorial said, "There were some signs of hope in the October report. Temporary employment increased for the third month in a row, often a key early sign of a healthier jobs market."

The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, and CNN are among more than 100 other news sources that, on the heels of the BLS report, cited staffing job growth as good news.

You can read these articles and other coverage of the staffing industry in the Staffing in the News section of the ASA online Newsroom, americanstaffing.net/newsroom. Subscribe to the RSS (real simple syndication) feed to receive alerts whenever a new article or news item is added to the site.


Reem El-Khatib