After an extremely difficult year for the domestic and international economies, business leaders worldwide are looking for signs of growth. The staffing industry is a good place to start.
Why? According to the American Staffing Association, the staffing industry has long been considered both a coincident economic indicator and a leading employment indicator. In other words, changes in the staffing industry occur at the same time as changes in the overall economy; changes in staffing industry employment occur before changes in overall employment.
But new ASA research (statistical analyses of 36 years of government data) has further refined the relationship between the staffing industry and the economy as a whole:
- Temporary help employment is a strong coincident economic indicator when the economy is emerging from a recession. This suggests that a sustained upturn in temporary help would signal the end of the current recession.
- Staffing industry employment is a strong leading indicator for total nonfarm employment by about three months when the economy is emerging from a recession.
Bottom line, the results suggest that a sustained upturn in temporary and contract staffing employment would signal the end of the current recession. Additionally, total nonfarm employment would begin to grow about three months later.
Want to learn more?
Visit the American Staffing Association’s website to view and download reference documents that detail this research. To learn more about the services and benefits A.R. Mazzotta offers, please visit our website.