US staffing companies employed an average of 3.19 million temporary and contract workers per week in 2017, a 0.6% decrease from 2016, according to data released today by the American Staffing Association. This is the third-highest number of staffing employees for any year since 2006, just before the Great Recession.

During all of 2017, staffing companies hired a total of 15.5 million temporary and contract employees. The average length of employment with a staffing company was 10.7 weeks in 2017, slightly shorter than the tenure of 11.5 weeks in 2016.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, average weekly staffing employment totaled 3.3 million workers, 3.7% more than in the third quarter – the largest quarter-to-quarter increase since 2014.

“During the past year, the staffing industry helped more than 15 million American workers find jobs and advance their professional careers,” said ASA President and CEO Richard Wahlquist. “But demand for qualified talent continues to outpace supply. Looking ahead, a top priority and focus must be on training, retraining and upskilling the current and future American workforce.”

The ASA staffing employment and sales survey is conducted on a quarterly basis, covering approximately 10,000 establishments.