News Release

July 2, 2010

Staffing employment led private sector job growth in June, according to the latest data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. From May to June, the private sector added 83,000 new jobs, a quarter of which were in the staffing industry. Seasonally adjusted, staffing employment grew by 21,000, or 1.5% over May.

BLS commissioner Keith Hall, in his statement to Congress, highlighted the continued employment growth in the staffing industry, noting the addition of 379,000 new jobs since September 2009.

Richard Wahlquist, president and CEO of the American Staffing Association, says "Even as the pace of economic recovery seems to be slowing, America's staffing companies continue to add jobs in virtually all sectors all across the nation. U.S. staffing firms offer immediate employment opportunities for millions of Americans. Many jobs that start out as temporary assignments will turn permanent as businesses gain confidence in the economic recovery."

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in the economy, indicate that staffing employment rose by 1.4% from May to June. On a year-to-year basis, there were 19.4% more staffing jobs in June 2010 compared with the same month last year. The ASA Staffing Index, which is also not seasonally adjusted and therefore is comparable to the nonadjusted employment figures reported by BLS, showed an increase of about 1% from May to June and year-to-year job growth of 25%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 125,000 from May to June. This decline was mostly due to the decrease in the number of short-term workers hired by the federal government to complete work on the 2010 census. These workers are hired directly as government employees and are therefore not included in the temporary help industry employment count.

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped from 9.7% to 9.5%, the lowest level since July 2009. However, rather than being driven by the addition of new jobs, the decline was due to 652,000 workers who discontinued actively searching for employment and were therefore no longer counted as part of the U.S. labor force.

The ASA Staffing Index is reported nine days after each workweek, making it a virtual real-time measure of staffing employment trends. ASA research shows that staffing employment is a coincident economic indicator and leading employment indicator, especially when the economy is emerging from a recession. Data for the index are gathered by ASA corporate partner Inavero, a market research firm based in Portland, OR.

For more information, visit americanstaffing.net/newsroom. You can also follow ASA on Twitter at twitter.com/staffingtweets.

Interviews with ASA executives are available.

The American Staffing Association promotes legal, ethical, and professional practices for the $61 billion U.S. staffing industry. ASA members account for 85% of U.S. staffing industry sales and operate some 14,000 offices throughout the nation. Two million Americans go to work for U.S. staffing companies every business day.

Founded to promote flexible employment opportunities and ensure the quality of staffing services, ASA has been the voice of the U.S. staffing industry since 1966. Members provide a wide range of employment services and solutions, including temporary and contract staffing, recruiting and permanent placement, outplacement and outsourcing, training, and human resource consulting. ASA and its affiliated chapters promote the interests of the industry through legal and legislative advocacy, public relations, education, and the establishment of high standards of ethical conduct.

Contact
Reem El-Khatib
Public Relations Coordinator
703-253-2047
relkhatib@americanstaffing.net