US Staffing hours begin to bounce back after July 4th holiday
US staffing hours were up 3.5% from last week as many workers returned after a long holiday weekend. Commercial staffing hours were up 3.5% week over week, as were professional hours.
*Indexed value of US staffing hours benchmarked against the week ending January 19, 2019.
Staffing Industry Analysts' perspective
Hours worked in the US staffing industry in the week ending July 13th decreased by -11% year-over-year. Commercial staffing hours were down -11% while Professional staffing hours were down -10%.
This week’s strong sequential increases can be explained by the fact that the week ending July 13th was the first full week following the long July 4th public holiday. We will be watching closely how quickly US staffing hours catch up with their pre-holiday levels. This will be indicative of the momentum for the remaining of the year.
We notice that the Y/Y comparisons have appeared to improve since the beginning of the year for Commercial Staffing, and since March for Professional Staffing, with a more pronounced narrowing of the Y/Y gap since mid-May.
Year-to-date, the median Y/Y growth rate is -13% for Commercial staffing, and -11% for Professional staffing. By comparison, last year’s median Y/Y growth rate was -11% for Commercial staffing and -6% for Professional staffing.
The US staffing industry is a large and dynamic market that continues to offer big opportunities
The year-over-year decline in the Indicator is directionally in line with the decline in temporary help employment as reported in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Employment Situation reports. The (published on July 5th) estimates that employment in the temporary help services industry fell by -7.7% in June 2024, on a Y/Y basis; and declined by -1.8% when compared with May 2024.
With most economists projecting solid growth in the US economy this year (real GDP growth of 2% or higher), we are keeping our eyes open for signs of an eventual uptick in demand for temporary staffing.
Competitive pressures remain elevated but there are continuing and large opportunities for those staffing firms that have developed a competitive advantage via either their technology, their service offerings, or both. For more discussion of the market dynamics for each skill segment of staffing, SIA Corporate Members are encouraged to read our latest , published on March 27th. To read more about the current staffing environment, please see SIA’s recently published report.
About the SIA Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Staffing Industry Indicator
The SIA | Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Staffing Indicator is a unique tool for gauging near real time weekly trends in the volume of temporary staffing delivered by US staffing firms. Each week the Indicator reports data for the week that ended ten days prior to the release. It reflects weekly hours worked by temporary workers across a sample of staffing companies in the US that utilize Ï㽶ÊÓƵ’s technology solutions. The Indicator is weighted and benchmarked against US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to approximate the composition of the staffing industry by skill. While the indicator does not presume to perfectly reflect the entire universe of US staffing firms, it does represent a sizable sample of the US staffing industry, reflecting a wide range of occupations, client industry verticals, and geographic footprint that spans the country.
The Indicator can be used by staffing firms to benchmark their past and current performance, as well as a tool for forecasting near term industry trends and outlook.
As the US temporary staffing industry has often functioned as a co-incident indicator for the US labor market and economy, the SIA | Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Staffing Indicator is also useful for a broader audience of business leaders and investors who are seeking real-time insight.
The Indicator is a joint custom research effort between Ï㽶ÊÓƵ and industry advisor Staffing Industry Analysts.
Revisions and Technical notes on the SIA | Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Staffing IndicatorÂ
We note the readings for the last 4 weeks are subject to revision and so should be viewed as preliminary, with the reading for the last recorded week the most likely to be revised in next week’s data release. For further information on how the Indicator has been created and detailed technical notes please refer to the .