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U.S. adds temp jobs

November 06, 2009
Staffing Industry Analysts North American Daily News

U.S. temporary help payrolls rose by 33,700 jobs in October, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary numbers released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The temporary employment category actually started adding jobs in August when employment increased by 3,200, according to revised numbers from the BLS. September also posted an increase in temporary employment of 7,200.

In total, temporary employment added 44,100 jobs since July. However, temporary employment had fallen by an average of 44,000 jobs per month between January 2008 and July 2009.

The temporary help penetration rate rose to 1.4% in October from 1.3% in September.

The employment services industry as a whole added 36,000 jobs in October after adding 10,100 in September and 6,100 in August.

Total U.S. nonfarm payrolls fell by 190,000 in October. Reuters and The Associated Press reported economists had forecast a loss of only 175,000 jobs. However, the ADP employment report forecast a loss of 203,000 jobs, and Wanted Technologies predicted a loss of 224,000 jobs.

The U.S. unemployment rate did hit double digits in October -- increasing to 10.2% from 9.8% in September.

Manufacturing employment fell by 61,000 jobs in October. Manufacturing has lost an average of 51,000 jobs per month over the past four months, but that compares with an average monthly loss of 161,000 from October 2008 through June 2009.

In construction, employment fell by 62,000 jobs in October. That compares with average monthly job losses of 67,000 during the past six months.

Healthcare added 29,000 jobs in October. It has added 597,000 jobs since the start of the recession.