News Release

Sept. 3, 2010

The staffing industry added jobs in August after exhibiting no employment growth in July, according to the latest data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the monthly period measured, seasonally adjusted staffing employment grew by 17,000 jobs, or 0.8%. The newest government statistics estimate that the industry has 22.1% more workers employed now than in August of last year.

“Staffing firms added close to 400,000 new jobs in the past year, an indication that the economy continues to slowly dig out of the ‘great recession,’” says Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “While ASA members expect that growth to continue, they report that businesses are being very strategic about adding back permanent jobs, timing employment increases with sustained increases in demand.”

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in the economy, indicated that staffing employment grew 3.4% from July to August. On a year-to-year basis, there were 21% more workers employed in August of 2010 compared with the same month in 2009. 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 4% from July to August and year-to-year job growth of 27%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment showed little change during August, declining slightly by 54,000. This decline was largely driven by continued cuts in the number of short-term workers previously hired by the federal government to complete work on the 2010 census. These workers were hired directly as government employees and are therefore not included in the temporary help industry employment count.

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