Staffing Flat in May, but Up Over Last Year - ASA / Frontline Source Group

Staffing Flat in May, but Up Over Last Year
In a weaker-than-expected overall jobs report, staffing industry employment declined slightly in May, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Despite a nominal monthly decline of 0.2%, industry payrolls were still up 5.3% over the same month last year.

Staffing industry employment has been essentially flat over the past seven months, according to BLS, but has remained significantly higher than in the same period last year. Year-over-year growth has shown a slight slowdown in recent months, from 8.7% in February to 5.3% in May. BLS frequently revises its estimates, and in coming months could actually show growth rather than decline for May.

Recent reports and anecdotal comments from staffing firms and industry analysts have been mixed, but generally agree that there has been strong performance in temporary-to-permanent assignments and foresee solid temporary staffing growth through the summer.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 78,000 jobs in May, BLS reported, well below most economists’ predictions of 180,000 jobs and April’s much larger gain of 274,000 jobs.

BLS reported that job growth was strongest in the health care and construction industries in May. Other growing industries included wholesale trade, retail, and transportation and warehousing. Manufacturing employment was down slightly in May, and “has nearly returned to its recent low point of February 2004,” BLS commissioner Kathleen P. Utgoff said. Most other industries reported little change.

The unemployment rate declined slightly in May to 5.1%, the lowest rate since September 2001.

Allyson Schuster
www.staffingtoday.net

The American Staffing Association is the voice of the $70 billion U.S. staffing industry. The association’s member companies operate more than 15,000 offices across the nation and account for 85% of U.S. industry sales. This newsletter is one of the benefits of your company's membership in ASA.

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Staffing agency and employment placement agency based in Dallas Fort Worth Texas. Frontline Source Group is one of the fastest growing technical information technology, accounting audit and finance staffing temporary employment agencies.

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