US staffing hours continue upward trend, hit new 2026 high
U.S. staffing hours reached a new high for 2026, continuing a positive upward trend observed since the start of the year. Holiday weeks and severe winter weather caused minor dips but overall staffing hours have been rising steadily since mid-January. The gains are driven largely by strong growth in commercial hours, showing the continued resilience of this segment. Both U.S. staffing and commercial hours remain 3% above the same week in 2025, continuing the strongest comparative performance so far this year. Professional hours were stable this week, also outpacing 2025, while IT hours dipped slightly, but remain 1% above the same week in 2025.
IT Staffing Indicator
IT staffing hours show modest decline
Commentary for the week ending March 7, 2026
- The IT indicator fell from 114 to 113, a slight sequential decline.
- IT hours are 1% above where they were this week in 2025, IT hours have been above 2025 levels since January 10th.
Staffing Industry Analysts’ perspective
US Staffing hours reached their highest level year-to-date in the first week of March. The momentum was driven by Commercial hours, which increased both on a Y/Y basis and on a sequential W/W basis. IT staffing hours were up 1% from their level a year ago. While the year-over-year comparison remains positive, IT staffing hours declined slightly on a sequential W/W basis.
We note that the reference week for this report coincides with the start of the US attacks on Iran that began on Saturday, February 28th.
While we don’t believe the conflict had any material impact on US staffing hours in this particular week, we will be keeping a close eye over the coming weeks’ data for any signs of impact.
Looking ahead, US temporary staffing continues to face headwinds in the form of sluggish growth in the overall US labor market, the conflict with Iran and shock to energy prices, low rates of labor turnover, policy uncertainty, and uncertainty regarding the impact of AI, leading to a cautious approach to hiring from clients. Nevertheless, on the bright side, according to the latest BLS estimates, US temporary help employment grew sequentially in November and January, breaking the pattern of sequential declines that have defined much of the past three years. For more US staffing industry insights, please see our US Economic and Labor Market Trends (March 2026), our March 2026 US Jobs Report, and our most recent US Staffing Industry Forecast Update.
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 US 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 US staffing firms, it does represent a sizable sample of the US 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.
