Staffing firms’ gross margins jumped in the third quarter, according to a new report on gross margin trends by Staffing Industry Analysts. Gross margins at a group of 17 publicly traded staffing firms rose by a median 50 basis points compared to the third quarter of last year.

“As a broad theme, a number of public companies have pointed to their ability to increase bill-pay spreads in response to steady demand for staffing services,” said Timothy Landhuis, research analyst and author of the report. “This is certainly a positive sign for the health of the industry, even though revenue growth rates have shown deceleration in third quarter of this year.”

In comparison, the 17 staffing firms posted a median decrease of 20 basis points in gross margins in 2011 when compared to 2010. The median increase in gross margins for 2010 was only 10 basis points from 2009.

And 2009 was an especially tough year. Gross margins fell by a median 120 basis points in 2009 from 2008.

The staffing firm with the highest gross margin among the 17 public firms analyzed for the third quarter of 2012 was Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE: RHI) at 40.2 percent.

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