Staffing Industry Indicator

 US, commercial, and professional staffing hours reach new 2026 highs for second straight week

IT hours reach new 2026 high with strongest year-over-year gain of the year

Light industrial hours hit another 2026 high, 17% above 2025

Office/clerical hours rise 1.8%, narrowing gap to 2025 to -7%

Staffing Industry Analysts’ perspective

US Staffing hours were up 11% compared to a year ago in the week ending October 3rd and reached another year-to-date high. Commercial and Professional hours also reached year-to-date highs, up 13% and 9% y/y, respectively. On a skill segment level,
Industrial occupation hours were up 17% y/y, IT occupation hours were up 8% 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 is generally consistent with data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics which shows that seasonally adjusted Temporary Help Services employment in September was 35,400 higher than in December 2025. However, Temporary Help Services employment declined by 10,000 in July and 10,900 in September, while August saw an increase of just 200.

Industrial staffing hours have shown an impressive ramp starting in late April and continuing through September, as demand has returned from clients in manufacturing and logistics, as well as areas related to data centers. 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 recently published Industrial Staffing Growth Assessment report.

The average weekly hours worked per worker was 35.3 hours during the week ending October 3rd, stable on the previous week, and slightly up on the same week of the previous year (35.0). On average, Industrial occupations worked 36.5 hours per week while IT occupations averaged 37.3 hours.

We believe industrial staffing has benefitted this year from increased demand from the manufacturing and logistics sectors, as well as demand related to data centers. Demand for professional staffing has come from clients moving forward on projects that had previously been paused, as well as from new projects related to AI readiness and transformation. According to the latest BLS estimates, US temporary help employment has grown an average of roughly 3,900 jobs each month from January through September, in contrast to the pattern of sequential declines that characterized the period from 2023 to 2025. For more US staffing industry insights, please see our US Staffing Industry Forecast: September 2026 Update, our US Economic and Labor Market Trends (October 2026), and our October 2026 US Jobs Report.