Barrett Business Services Inc. (NASDAQ: BBSI), a provider of staffing and PEO services, reported first-quarter revenue rose 3.0% year over year to $254.7 million. Revenue was up 6.8% in its PEO business but fell 22.7% in its staffing business.

“We continue to see strong controllable growth from the addition of net new clients, and we’re off to a successful start in our new benefits offering,” President and CEO Gary Kramer said. “Client hiring was slower in the quarter than the prior year, but our results are in line with our expectations, and we remain optimistic about our strengthening value proposition for our clients.”

The average number of PEO worksite employees rose by 3%. The company expects the average number of worksite employees to rise between 2% and 4% in the second quarter.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Barrett were down 7.32% to $76.49 as of 1:18 p.m. Eastern time; they were 16.01% above their 52-week low, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of $561.3 million.