American Staffing Index and BLS 2017
American Staffing Index and BLS 2017 Review
The American Staffing Association (ASA) staffing index for 2017 showed an increase from January to December, and proved to be higher than the 2016 index. The ASA on January 15, 2017 was recorded at 92.83, and finished the year at 99.66 recorded as of the December 17, 2017 index. Comparatively, on January 17, 2016 the ASA staffing index recorded at 91.59, and ended the year at 99.25. Both 2016 and 2017 demonstrated dips in overall staffing upon two occasions: once in July, and again the week of November 27th. Besides these two dips, both years showed relatively the same overall pattern of increase from January through December.
Noteworthy ASA Staffing Index Movements in 2017
Responders to the ASA questionnaire cited seasonal business fluctuations, conversions from temporary workers to full-time positions, hurricane and school breaks as reasons to slower rates or dips in staffing employment throughout the year.
The month of September brought the staffing index above 97 for the first time in 2017. The index reached 97.26 despite responders citing hurricane activity, and temp-to-hire conversions as hindrances of growth. October continued off of the strength of September’s numbers reaching an index of 98.61.
The staffing index reached 101.09 on November 12th. This marked the highest peak in 2017, and was the first time in about 3 years that the index reached above 101. The ASA noted that the four-week movement from 99.52 to 101.09 was the strongest four-week period since December 2014. December’s ASA staffing index report stated that the index had softened to 99.66.
BLS 2017 Seasonally Adjusted Data in the Economic News Release
From November 2017 to December 2017 professional and business services increased by 19 (report is in the thousands) from 20,924 to 20,943. The increase becomes more apparent when comparing December 2016 seasonally adjusted data to December 2017 seasonally adjusted data. This segment of workers increased from 20,416 to 20,943 respectively.
The data below demonstrates related industries, compares numbers (in the thousands) of December 2016, and changes from November 2017 to December 2017.
Segment – December 2016 – November 2017 – December 2017
Professional and Technical Services 9,013.2, 9219.9, 9215.2
Computer Systems Design and Related Services 2,031.5, 2,075.0, 2,078.3
Management and Technical Consulting Services 1,407.4, 1,463.6, 1,464.4
Other Professional and Technical Services 696.4, 731.4, 732.8
Business Support Services 920.0, 918.7, 915.3
Reviewing the information above we see that although professional and business services saw an increase from November to December, professional and technical services, and business support services saw a decreases of 4.7 and 3.4 respectively. On the flipside, computers systems design and related services, management and technical consulting services, and other professional and technical services saw increases of 3.3, .8, and 1.4 respectively. Positively, each segment above, except business support services, saw increases in these segments over December 2016 data.
The American Staffing Index and BLS 2017 data show increases in performance over 2016, it will be interesting to see what the 2018 data will present.
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