U.S. staffing hours reach highest level since 2024 ahead of 4th of July

As a result of mid-year technical and benchmarking updates, the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator has been revised for the week following Memorial Day and the result is that the index values for subsequent weeks have been adjusted up.

The recalculation reveals that in the weeks before the July 4th holiday, U.S. staffing hours and commercial hours both set new year-to-date highs. The U.S. index reached 100, matching the 2016 benchmark value for the first time since the end of 2024. At 117, professional hours were near the 2025 high point of 118. This week, hours declined due to the July 4th holiday, but the decline was in line with prior years. All staffing hours remain well above where they were this time last year, suggesting the staffing market continues to strengthen.

Light industrial staffing hours also set a new year-to-date high heading into the holiday, outpacing the same week in 2025 by 19%. This segment continues to show strong momentum and is driving much of the growth in the overall index. IT staffing is also proving resilient, with IT hours currently 7% above the same week in 2025. This is the best year-over-year differential in 2026, though it should be noted that a similar peak occurred around July 4th last year before normalizing soon after. All segment hours saw a sequential decline due to the short holiday workweek, but the drop was consistent across segments and in line with prior years.

SIA | Bullhorn research

Commercial hours are 15% ahead of 2025 levels

IT hours decline during July 4th week

Light industrial hours are 19% above 2025 levels

Office/clerical hours stabilizing ahead of holiday dip

Staffing Industry Analysts’ perspective

US Staffing hours were up 11% compared to a year ago in the week ending July 4th. Commercial hours were up 15% y/y while Professional hours were up 6% y/y. On a skill segment level, Industrial occupation hours were up 19% y/y, IT occupation hours were up 7% y/y, and Office/Clerical hours were down -5% y/y.

This year the Fourth of July landed on a Saturday, which may have contributed to fewer business closures during the week and accordingly allowed a greater number of staffing hours to be worked during the week. Last year the Fourth of July fell on a Friday.

Looking at the the first half of 2026, both Commercial and Professional staffing hours have displayed a positive sequential growth trend. This is consistent with data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics that shows employment growth in Temporary Help Services employment in five out of the first six months of this year.

The Average weekly hours worked per worker increased to 32.4 hours during the week ending July 4th. On average, Industrial occupations worked 33.6 hours weekly while IT occupations averaged 33.5 hours.

We believe industrial staffing has benefitted this year from demand from clients in manufacturing and logistics, as well as demand related to investment in 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 grew sequentially in each month from January through May, breaking 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: March 2026 Update, our US Economic and Labor Market Trends (May 2026), and our July 2026 US Jobs Report.

About the SIA Bullhorn Staffing Industry Indicator

The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator is a unique tool for gauging near real time weekly trends in the volume of temporary staffing delivered by staffing firms. Each week the Indicator reports data for the week that ended ten days prior to the release. It reflects weekly hours worked by temporary workers across a sample of staffing companies in the US that utilize Bullhorn’s technology solutions. The Indicator is weighted and benchmarked against US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to approximate the composition of the staffing industry by skill. While the indicator does not presume to perfectly reflect the entire universe of staffing firms, it does represent a sizable sample of the staffing industry, reflecting a wide range of occupations, client industry verticals, and geographic footprint that spans the country.

The Indicator can be used by staffing firms to benchmark their past and current performance, as well as a tool for forecasting near term industry trends and outlook.

As the US temporary staffing industry has often functioned as a co-incident indicator for the US labor market and economy, the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator is also useful for a broader audience of business leaders and investors who are seeking real-time insight.

The Indicator is a joint custom research effort between Bullhorn and industry advisor Staffing Industry Analysts.

Revisions and Technical notes on the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator 

We note the readings for the last 4 weeks are subject to revision and so should be viewed as preliminary, with the reading for the last recorded week the most likely to be revised in next week’s data release. For further information on how the Indicator has been created and detailed technical notes please refer to the methodology.

Want to stay up to date on US temporary staffing trends?

Subscribe for timely trends, data, and analysis

Join thousands of recruitment pros who subscribe to Bullhorn Insights to receive exclusive trends and data, powered by Bullhorn.

shape of squares