Reports ASA and BLS September 2017
Reports ASA and BLS September 2017
The American Staffing Association (ASA) uses a staffing index baseline of 100, which was set in June of 2006. An outside market research firm collects the indexed data. The model used is based upon Standard and Poor’s DRI/McGraw Hill 1992. The ASA Staffing Index is reported nine days after each workweek, making it a near real-time measure of staffing employment trends. September’s staffing ASA staffing index is explored and reviewed below along with a look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ economic news release. The BLS’ report was released on the 6th of October 2017. This report reviews September employment numbers, and also includes a look at July, and August 2017 as well. The BLS report sites the affects of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Below the reports ASA and BLS September 2017 are explored.
ASA September Breakdown Week-by-Week and Annual Comparisons
The four-week reported average increase of the staffing index moved from 96 to 96.24. This slight increase keeps the staffing index above 96 for 6 consecutive periods. Compared to the same time frame last year, staffing employment was .98% year-to-year.
Looking at temporary and contracted employment stats for September 4th through the 10th the ASA reported an increase of 1.46 percent from the prior week. Some companies reported components, which negatively affected growth. These hindrances included temporary-to-hire conversions, and vigorous hurricane activity. Even with these reported obstacles to business, staffing employment did show a 1.89% increase over the same week last year.
The next period from September 11th through the 17th showed an increase to a value of 97 for the first time in 2017.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Economic News Release Information
The Bureau of Labor Statistics economic news release report details information regarding employment in the United States. In the employees on nonfarm payrolls reported by industry sector section B-1 of the report they report seasonally adjusted statistics. Areas of interest for the staffing industry include management and technical consulting, temporary help services, and professional and technical services. Notably, each of these segments saw an increase from August 2017 to September 2017 while the total of nonfarm employed decreased by 33. Meaning, even with total nonfarm employees decreasing, the areas of concern saw positive growth.
Looking in more detail we see that management and technical consulting services increased 1.9 from August 2017 to September 2017. This appears small, but if you compare September’s numbers to July you see an increase of 4.6. Temporary help services were also reported to have increased 5.9 for the same time frame. The change from July to September was even larger at 13.4. Professional and technical services showed the largest jump of 11.9. The positive change from July to September for this segment was 29.7. Each of these areas demonstrated a continued increase for this time period.
Summary
Both the ASA and BLS September 2017 reports show a continued increase for temporary, staffing, and professional services. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program produces data for the US and surveys around 147,000 businesses, and government organizations. The next employment situation document will be released on November 3rd covering the data for October 2017.
