The US added 1,000 temporary jobs in January, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Information. However, the temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — was unchanged from December at 2.03%.

Still, temp jobs were up 2.67% in January compared to the same month a year ago.

“After the downward revision to November and this month’s soft growth of 1,000, the recent trend in temporary help employment suddenly looks much less stellar than it did last month,” said Tony Gregoire, research director at SIA. “The next two months should be telling as to whether this change is part of the typical month-to-month volatility, or indicative of a real trend of temporary employment softening as an early indicator of an economic slowdown.”

In terms of total nonfarm jobs, the US added 304,000 jobs for a total of almost 150.6 million in January. On the other hand, the unemployment rate rose to 4.0% in January from 3.9% in December and 3.7% in November.

For college graduates, the unemployment rate rose to 2.4% in January from 2.1% in December and 2.2% in November.

“The main message from this report is clear: While financial markets and business confidence measures were moving south in recent months, employers kept adding workers at a fast rate, specifically 304,000 new jobs in January,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, The Conference Board. “If anything, employment growth has accelerated in recent months.”

Levanon noted that due to the government shutdown, some of this month’s data is hard to interpret.

The BLS noted that federal government employment was up by 1,000, essentially unchanged, in January. Federal employees on furlough were counted as employed.

Levanon said he still expects employment growth to moderate but not as quickly as previously thought.

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