Week-to-week: Staffing employment up one point, new starts up 10 points

Staffing employment improved during the week of June 10-16, with the ASA Staffing Index increasing by 0.9% to reach a rounded value of 90 for the first time in nine weeks. Staffing jobs were down 10.0% compared with the same week last year. Staffing companies did not cite any leading factor as hindering further growth in the week in question, though macroeconomic conditions remain challenging for the industry.

New starts saw an even greater improvement in the 24th week of the year, increasing by 10.0% from the prior week. However, just over a third of staffing companies (35%) reported gains in new assignments week to week–below the average of 43% per week so far this year.

The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average increased from the prior week to hold at a rounded value of 89, and temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending June 16 was 10.3% lower than the same period in 2023.

“This week’s index revealed a measured improvement in staffing employment beyond just recovering from the Memorial Day dip. Stabilization remains the operative word for staffing employment in 2024 as June’s numbers provide the clearest indication of a bottom for the industry. These levels are likely to see incremental long-term improvement depending on the pace of cooling and recovery within the labor market at-large,” said Noah Yosif, chief economist at ASA.

This week will be used in the June monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on July 5.

The ASA Staffing Index is reported nine days after each workweek, making it a near real-time measure of staffing employment trends. ASA Staffing Starts are the number of temporary and contract employees placed in new assignments during the reporting week. ASA research shows that staffing employment has historically been a coincident economic indicator.