News Release

June 4, 2010

Staffing firms accounted for 76% of private sector employment growth in May, according to the most recent data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. From April to May, staffing employment rose by 31,000 additional jobs (1.5%), seasonally adjusted.

The “gain of 31,000 in May was in line with the average increase over the prior three months,” said BLS commissioner Keith Hall in his statement to Congress.

“More than 360,000 job seekers have been able to find employment through staffing firms during the past eight months and we expect that number will continue to grow during the balance of the year,” said Richard Wahlquist, president and CEO of the American Staffing Association. “Many of those jobs will become permanent positions.”

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in the economy, indicate that staffing employment rose by 3.9% from April to May. On a year-to-year basis, there were 16.7% more staffing jobs in May 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 3% from April to May and year-to-year job growth of 19%.

Job growth in the economy was mainly driven by the hiring of 411,000 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. Overall, private sector employment was little changed; the 41,000 new jobs created in this sector were limited to employment gains in staffing, manufacturing, and mining.

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