Temporary help jobs rose by 18,300 in October from September and the temporary penetration rate reached a record high, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The agency also increased the number of temp jobs gained in September by 1,900 jobs.

The temp penetration rate reached a high of 2.09% in October, and was up from 2.08% in September.

“The report was good news for temporary staffing, as the temporary help penetration rate reached a record 2.09%, particularly impressive given the job gains in total employment,” said Tony Gregoire, director of research for the Americas at Staffing Industry Analysts.

Total nonfarm jobs rose by 261,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in October.

The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in October from 4.2% in September. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — fell to 2.0% from 2.3% in the prior month.

“The impact of the Hurricanes in August and September, and the bounce back in October, makes it difficult to gauge current employment trends, but it is clear that the labor market continues to tighten,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, at The Conference Board.

Randstad Sourceright CEO Rebecca Henderson said that the speed at which the overall job market rebounded following the recent string of devastating storms was due in part to employers leveraging innovative human resource technology that enabled them to quickly recruit thousands of employees in October.

“Now more than ever, employers have unprecedented access to business intelligence and new human resource recruitment tools — including predictive analytics. These tools not only help employers quickly attract, acquire and retain top talent, but can even tell when a competitor’s highly-skilled employee may be looking to move on,” Henderson said in a statement. “When 34% of US companies say that talent scarcity remains their biggest concern, it should come as no surprise that they are turning to digital innovations in recruitment and acquisition to expand their candidate pools and scoop their competition in finding the most qualified person for the job.”

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