News Release

Nov. 23, 2009

Staffing employment in the third quarter of this year showed marked improvement over the previous quarter, but the number of jobs remains substantially lower than during the same period last year, according to survey data released today by the American Staffing Association.

Despite continued losses in overall employment in the U.S., the staffing industry added nearly 130,000 jobs in the third quarter—the first increase in seven quarters. America's staffing companies reported employing an average of 2.1 million temporary and contract workers per day from July through September—6.7% more than in the second quarter of this year.

"Staffing job numbers started to increase weekly at the beginning of July," says ASA president and chief executive officer Richard Wahlquist. "The ASA Staffing Index has ticked up every week since then, except for the week of the Labor Day holiday, suggesting that the economy is in the early stages of recovery."

Staffing sales grew in the third quarter, reversing a four-quarter streak of shrinkage. Temporary and contract staffing sales in the U.S. totaled $13.3 billion in the third quarter of this year, an increase of 5.1% from the second quarter.

Compared with the same period last year, staffing employment in the third quarter was down 23.9% and sales were off 25.9%. But this was the first time in more than a year that those declines were smaller than reported for the previous quarter.

See the ASA Web site for details.

Interviews with ASA executives are available.

The American Staffing Association promotes legal, ethical, and professional practices for the $86 billion U.S. staffing industry. ASA members account for 85% of U.S. staffing industry sales and operate more than 15,000 offices throughout the nation. Some 2.7 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