Temp jobs in the US dropped by 48,900 in June from May even as total nonfarm employment rose by 206,000, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported July 5. An analysis by SIA noted June’s temp number underperformed expectations and other data, such as the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator, do not show a dramatic slowing in June.

It’s likely that June’s decline in temp jobs will be revised to a smaller decline next month, according to SIA’s analysis.

BLS data also show June’s temp penetration rate; temp jobs as a percent of total employment fell to 1.68% from May’s number of 1.71%.

“The June decline in temporary help services employment continues the trend observed over the past twenty four months, with many employers focused on cost cutting and pausing or delaying projects,” Timothy Landhuis, VP of research at SIA, said in a press release. “As there are multiple factors causing the drop in temp staffing, SIA has recently published a concise report that explains the current headwinds, and also shares our reasons for optimism that temp staffing will eventually show signs of recovery.”

Temp help jobs are down 515,000 since reaching their peak in March 2022, according to the BLS.

The US unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June from 4.0% in May. The college-level unemployment rate rose to 2.4% in June from 2.1% in May.

Sectors adding jobs in June included government, healthcare, social assistance and construction.

Government jobs rose by 70,000 in June, which is higher than their average monthly gain of 49,000 over the prior 12 months. Some areas of increase were local government excluding education, which added 34,000 jobs, and state government, which saw employment increase by 26,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the healthcare sector gained 49,000 jobs in June, though that was lower than the average monthly gain of 64,000 over the prior 12 months.

Social assistance jobs rose by 34,000, and construction employment rose by 27,000 jobs.

Overall, total nonfarm employment was 135.5 million and the number of temp jobs totaled nearly 2.7 million. However, the BLS noted that total nonfarm employment in April and May combined is 111,000 lower than previously reported because of revisions to the data.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls in June rose by 10 cents in June to $35.00.