May 2018 Staffing Index
May 2018 Staffing Index
May 2018 American Staffing Index Increases to 97
Keeping up with the American Staffing Index report helps give insight into staffing industry trends in the U.S. The American Staffing Association, ASA, composes the monthly staffing index to keep a pulse on temporary and contract staffing fluctuations. Their method of collecting data and reporting is based on a model created by Standard and Poor’s DRI/McGraw Hill in 1992. Through web-based questionnaires sent to participants, a market research firm collects the data. The baseline value for the ASA Staffing Index is 100, which was set in June of 2006. The report is released nine days after each workweek making it near real-time measure of staffing employment trends.
May 2018 Staffing Index Reaches 97
The ASA reported an increase of 2.4% over the same four-week period last year ending on May 20, 2018. This demonstrates a new high for the 19th week of the year. Last month, April 2018, the ASA cited a trend of record readings for comparable weeks, which continued in May. Even with a slight decrease of .1% during the period of May 7-13 the index remained at the rounded value of 97. The four-week change was 1.82%. Most notably was the rate of growth for temporary and contract staffing employment. This category was 2.2% greater than the same week in 2017. The reason this is noteworthy is that is the quickest growth rate for this period in four years!
The May 2018 ASA Index report also signified the importance of the index reaching 97 for this period as it is a historical high. The four-week period ending May 13th also increased 2.4%, a pace that has not been seen since 2014 for that time period.
Below is the 52 week chart from the American Staffing Association’s Website
May 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics Economic News Release
Another important aspect for the IT staffing and consulting industry is the BLS Economic News Release and Situation Report. The information they release is reported in the thousands, and is seasonally adjusted. Professional and business services overall saw an increase of 31 from April to May 2018. This category for May was reported at 20,891. Professional and technical services saw an increase of 22.6 reported at 9,186.1 for May. Both computer systems design and related services, and management and technical consulting services saw increases. The first category increasing by 6.6 to 2,098.7, with the second category increasing by 4 to 1,443.4. Other professional and technical services saw an increase of 3 to 735.8, and management of companies and enterprises saw an increase of 7.6 to 2,325.9.
Both the BLS and ASA data show increases to the staffing, and professional consulting categories over the same time period.
Did You Know?
CSI, Consulting Solutions International, is expanding its presence and offerings! We have a wide array of IT staffing and consulting services. We are able to provide you with consulting services, staff augmentation, workforce management resources, permanent placement, post implementation support, and upgrade services. Our specialized recruiters work to find the best talent for your projects. Contact us today for more information. Tell us about your upcoming IT projects, and requirements. We look forward to speaking with you soon!
