The ASA Staffing Law & Compliance Conference is all about staying ahead of compliance issues before they turn into audits, claims, or costly missteps.

Come to the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC, May 7–8 for practical, staffing-specific guidance on topics such as immigration and Form I-9 compliance, using artificial intelligence in recruiting, fraud prevention, worker classification, and more. Early registration gives you compliance assurance and savings—you can save more than $200 when you register by this Friday, March 6.

Want to see exactly where you’re outperforming the market—and where you have room to gain—based on verified staffing industry benchmarks? The deadline to participate in the association’s quarterly Staffing Employment and Sales Survey for the fourth quarter of 2025 is this Friday, Feb. 27.

When you complete the survey you’ll get exclusive access to an online benchmark report archive, so you can

• Compare your performance to similar-sized firms and sector peers
• Validate whether your growth and margins are tracking above, at, or below market
• Spot trends early—before they show up in your own numbers—and adjust your pricing, recruiting, and sales strategy with confidence
• Use credible, aggregated data to support internal planning and leadership conversations

In a tightening labor market, guessing is risky. Benchmarking against verified industry data helps you make faster, smarter decisions. The ASA Staffing Employment and Sales Survey is one of the staffing industry’s primary benchmarking tools—covering direct hire and permanent placement activity, sector-specific gross margin trends, sales growth by sector, and productivity metrics by company size. There are no fees to participate. All responses are confidential and aggregated. Register to take the survey at americanstaffing.net/quarterly-survey.

Staffing employment edged up during the week of Feb. 9–15, with the ASA Staffing Index increasing by 0.3% to a rounded value of 85. Some staffing companies continued to cite inclement weather as a primary factor that hindered growth. Staffing jobs were 3.0% higher compared with the same period last year, up from 2.3% recorded the previous week.

New starts rose in the seventh week of the year, up by 14.4% from the prior week. Around four in 10 staffing companies (41%) reported gains in new assignments week to week, equal to the average last year.

The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average also edged up from the previous week to hold at a rounded value of 84. Temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending Feb. 15 was 2.2% higher than during the same period in 2025.

“Despite some disruptions due to inclement weather, staffing employment has maintained a steady incline since the start of 2026,” said Noah Yosif, chief economist at ASA. “Though more robust momentum depends on greater churn in the labor market at large, an uptick in weekly headcount suggests employers are able to hire, but prefer to lean on temporary staff instead of making long-term personnel investments via permanent roles.”

This week will be used in the February monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics March 6.

A surge in recruiter activity in the fourth quarter of 2025 may signal strengthening labor market momentum in 2026, according to the first Staffing Productivity Report released by ASA in partnership with Prodoscore, an ASA corporate partner. The report draws on data from the Prodoscore platform to analyze recruiters’ productivity, work patterns, and use of artificial intelligence, and compares average recruiter data with a sample of top performers. The Staffing Productivity Report provides valuable benchmarks staffing firms can use to gauge their own recruiters’ productivity, measure performance, and identify growth opportunities.

Prodoscore’s vice president of data science Adrian Reece and vice president of sales Armando Porres will join ASA chief economist Noah Yosif Tuesday, March 3, to present a free webinar providing the first public briefing on findings from the report.