U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 2.8 million temporary and contract workers per day in 2011, up 8% from 2010, according to data released today by the American Staffing Association. In 2011, U.S. staffing firms hired 12.9 million temporary and contract employees over the course of the year.

“Although the staffing industry employs only two of every 100 nonfarm workers on any given day, it has provided income for millions of American families—about one of every 10 nonfarm workers held a job with a staffing company at some point in 2011,” says Richard Wahlquist, American Staffing Association president and chief executive officer.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, average daily staffing employment totaled 2.98 million workers, up 5.2% from the third quarter and up 5.8% from the fourth quarter of 2010. The October through December period marked eight consecutive quarters of year-to-year staffing job growth since the recession ended in 2009.

“As the economy continued to slowly improve, staffing and recruiting companies played an important role in putting America back to work in 2011, helping close to 13 million people find temporary, contract, or permanent jobs,” says Wahlquist. “Through career counseling, training, employment, and job placement, staffing and recruiting companies add value to peoples’ lives across every sector and occupation.”

Temporary and contract sales totaled $98.3 billion in 2011, 12.4% higher than in 2010. Fourth quarter sales totaled $26.2 billion, up 10.0% from the same quarter last year.