Median revenue growth among the 21 publicly traded staffing firms operating in North America reached its highest rate in nearly seven years in the latest fiscal quarter, according to a new report released by Staffing Industry Analysts.

Quarterly revenue growth for these companies accelerated year over year to a median 9.3% from 7.5% year-over-year growth in the first quarter.

Median revenue, when adjusted for acquisitions, currency exchange, divestitures and, in some cases, differences in billing days between quarters grew 5.0% year over year, unchanged from 5.0% in the first quarter and exceeding the 3.8% average of the prior four quarters.

“Strong median revenue growth in the most recent quarter reflects a combination of solid organic growth trends and a robust M&A environment,” said Senior Research Analyst Brian Wallins, author of the report. “Our adjusted revenue metric normalizes for recent acquisition activity among 13 of the 21 covered companies.”

Consistent with recent quarters, some of the larger staffing firms still outperformed in total revenue growth due to higher growth rates in certain European markets; however, the degree of outperformance narrowed in the second quarter.

At the median, gross margin for the quarter ticked down by 40 basis points year over year, affected by M&A activity. However, median net income, bolstered by tax cuts enacted at the end of 2017, spiked 24.8% year over year.

SIA corporate members can download the full report online.