The American Staffing Association’s index measuring employment in the US staffing industry edged up to a reading of 94.62 for the week of April 11 to April 17, the highest value of the year. Temporary and contract staffing employment was up 0.38% from the prior week. However, the index was 2.71% lower than the same week last year.

Staffing employment during the past four weeks averaged a reading of 94.04, down 3.07% from the same period last year, which included four of the 19 consecutive record-high weeks that began in mid-January and continued through mid-May.