American Staffing Association (10/03/14) Cynthia Poole

Staffing firms created 19,700 new jobs in September, up 0.7% over August and 8.6% over September last year, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Year-to-year growth has slightly moderated from around 9% at the beginning of the year and an average of 8.8% over the past 12 months.

Nonseasonally adjusted BLS data, which estimate the actual number of jobs in the economy, indicated that temporary help employment increased 2.2% from August and 8.1% from the same month last year.

“As economic conditions continue to slowly improve, businesses are strategically increasing the size of their workforces. They’re hiring more workers and—to maintain agility—they’re expanding their flexible workforces,” says Richard Wahlquist, president and chief executive officer of the American Staffing Association. “This means that staffing and recruiting firms are able to help more job seekers find temporary and permanent employment.”

Resources Connection Inc. News Release (10/02/14)

Resources Connection Inc. reported revenue of $143.4 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, up 8.9% from $131.7 million in the year-ago quarter. Over the same period, the company’s U.S. revenue rose 13.3%. Net income was $5.4 million, up 46% from $3.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

NFIB News Release (10/02/14)

National Federation of Independent Business owners increased employment by a seasonally adjusted average of 0.24 workers per firm in September, the 12th positive month in a row and the largest gain this year. Thirteen percent of owners reported adding workers over the past few months; the percentage was unchanged. Ten percent reduced employment (up one point).

Fifty percent of the owners hired or tried to hire in the past three months, and 42% (84% of those trying to hire or hiring) reported few or no qualified applicants for open positions. Twenty-one percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down five points, and 15% reported using temporary workers, down one point. The net percentage of owners planning to increase employment fell one point to a seasonally adjusted net 9% after a three point decline in August.