U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 3.2 million temporary and contract workers per week in 2014, up 5.4% from 2013, according to data released today by the American Staffing Association.

“Staffing and recruiting firms are playing an extremely important role in helping millions of Americans in flexible work situations achieve their goal of bridging to permanent employment,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “The staffing industry hired 14.6 million people during all of 2014. Most transitioned quickly to permanent jobs as businesses increased the size of their talent pools. The average length of employment with a staffing firm was 11.3 weeks in 2014, down from 14.3 weeks in 2013.”

In the fourth quarter of 2014, average weekly staffing industry employment grew by 137,100 workers—4.2% more than in the third quarter.

Temporary and contract staffing sales were 7.9% higher in the fourth quarter of 2014 compared with the same period the prior year, totaling $30.54 billion. Fourth quarter sales were 3.7% higher than in the third quarter of 2014. For the full year, sales were up 5.7% over the prior year.