Staffing firms created 24,500 new jobs in October, up 0.8% from September and 4.1% from October 2014, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Year-to-year staffing job growth averaged 5.3% 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 September to October. Year-to-year, there were 3.7% more staffing employees in October than in the same month last year.

“Staffing and recruiting firms are reporting increases in demand for direct hire permanent placement orders for talent across several sectors,” said Richard Wahlquist, president and chief executive officer of the American Staffing Association. “This is an encouraging sign that businesses believe that demand for their goods and services will continue to grow.”

Total U.S. nonfarm payroll employment rose by 271,000 jobs in October (seasonally adjusted), BLS reported. Incorporating revisions for August and September, the data show that monthly job gains averaged 187,000 over the past three months, significantly less than the average of 230,000 for the prior 12 months.

The unemployment rate ticked down slightly to 5.0% in October—down 0.1 percentage points from September and down 0.7 percentage points from a year ago.