Hours worked in the US staffing industry fell 6% year over year in the week ended Dec. 10, according to the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator, released today.

The decline was driven by a slowdown in demand for both commercial and professional staffing. However, compared to the previous week, hours were up 5.7%. 

SIA noted the initial estimate for the week ending Dec. 3 had a particularly low reading that suggested a substantial year-over-year decline due to several factors, including the availability of data following the Thanksgiving holiday. However, the estimate for the week ending Dec. 3 has been revised upward and now exhibits a rebound from the decreased hours worked during the Thanksgiving Holiday due to this week’s more thorough analysis of timesheet data.

The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator measures hours worked. It comprises two sets of analyses: a year-over-year comparison showing how the most recent week compared to the same week 12 months previously and an indexed value that has been benchmarked against data from the week ended Jan. 19, 2019.

In the week ended Dec. 10, the index value was 103, following readings of 97 and 94 in the prior two weeks as revised.