US temporary staffing revenue rose a median 5% year over year in November among staffing firms taking part in Staffing Industry Analysts’ monthly Pulse Survey. This is a slight deceleration from the 7% rate reported for October.

“Temporary staffing revenue growth overall decelerated in November, but healthcare staffing stayed strong with robust revenue growth and an above-average increase in bill rates,” said Research Associate Sree Thiyagarajan.

Median year-over-year revenue growth accelerated in the following staffing segments in November from October:

• Office/clerical: to 7% from 3%
• Industrial: to 5% from 2%
• Travel nursing: to 38% from 21%
• Locum tenens: to 49% from 21%
• Finance/accounting: to 8% from 1%
• Marketing/creative: to 1% from 0%

Median year-over-year revenue growth decelerated in the following staffing segments in November from October:

• IT: to 5% from 8%
• Allied healthcare: to 6% from 9%
• Legal: to 0% from 1%

Median year-over-year revenue growth remained unchanged in the engineering/design segment, which was down 4%.

The report also found direct hire revenue growth also decelerated to a median year-over-year expansion rate of 5% in November from 8% in October.

Sales difficulty edged down to 2.66 from 2.69 (on a five-point scale, with five meaning most difficult) while average recruiting difficulty edged down to 3.25 from 3.26 in the survey overall. Firms that primarily provide IT staffing reported sales difficulty of 3.33, the highest level observed since we began tracking this metric in 2013. IT staffing firms indicated recruiting difficulty of 3.13.

The net proportion of firms reporting an increasing trend in new orders was 28% in November, a level lower than the average level of 34% observed over the past 12 months. The net proportion of firms reporting increasing new orders was lower for industrial, IT and healthcare staffing firms but higher for manufacturing staffing firms when compared with their respective past 12 month averages.

Pulse Survey results are based on a monthly survey of US staffing firms. Data from the month of November was submitted by individuals from 100 staffing companies. Report highlights are available online.

The next Pulse Survey is currently underway. Participate now by selecting this link.