Staffing Industry Indicator

 US staffing hours reach a new 2026 high, led by professional

IT hours reach a new 2026 high with the year’s strongest year-over-year gain

Light industrial hours rise 0.5%, widening lead to 18% above 2025

Office/clerical hours reach a new 2026 high, still 7% below 2025

Staffing Industry Analysts’ perspective

US Staffing hours were up 12% compared to a year ago in the week ending October 31st and reached another year-to-date high. Commercial hours were up 13% y/y while Professional hours were up 10% compared to a year ago. On a skill segment level, Industrial occupation hours were up 18% y/y. IT occupation hours were up 7% y/y, and Office/Clerical hours were down 7% y/y.

Looking at the month-to-month trend so far this year, both Commercial and Professional staffing hours have displayed a positive sequential growth trend. This increasing trend is directionally reflected in the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ temporary help services employment levels (up 74,600 jobs year-to-date) and also by the American Staffing Association’s ASA Staffing Index.

Industrial staffing hours have shown an impressive ramp starting in late April and continuing through October, as demand has returned from clients in manufacturing and logistics, as well as areas related to data center construction. Improving conditions among manufacturing clients is consistent with monthly data from the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) that show ten consecutive months of overall expansion, and four straight months of growth in the Employment Index. The Industrial Indicator levels are now higher than they were one, two, and three years ago at this time of year. More insight on the industrial segment can be found in our Industrial Staffing Growth Assessment report.

We believe professional staffing hours are being lifted this year by increasing demand for temporary IT and healthcare professionals, and also engineering, life science and education professionals. Demand for IT staffing remains solid as clients across many industries move forward on projects related to digital transformation and AI. Healthcare staffing volumes have ramped up across the second and third quarters of this year as health system budgets have improved, and in relation to labor union contract negotiations.

The average weekly hours worked per worker was 35.5 hours during the week ending October 31st, stable on the previous week, and up on the same week of the previous year (35.1). On average, Industrial occupations worked 36.7 hours per week while IT occupations averaged 37.7 hours.

For more US staffing industry insights, please see our US Staffing Industry Forecast: September 2026 Update, our SIA Staffing Confidence Index, our US Pulse Survey (September 2026), our US Economic and Labor Market Trends (October 2026), and our
November 2026 US Jobs Report.