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Temp jobs slide in September as expected 

Temp jobs slide in September as expected 

SIA Editorial Staff
| October 4, 2024

Main article

US temporary employment fell by 13,800 jobs in September from the month before, reaching a total of nearly 2.68 million jobs, according to seasonally adjusted data released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Temporary employment had been trending downward since reaching a high point of nearly 3.2 million in March 2022.  

“This decline was expected, but we anticipate a neutral to positive result when the October data is released,” SIA Economist Michael Schultz said. 

Looking at total nonfarm employment, the US added 254,000 jobs, which was a bigger increase than the 159,000 in August based on revised data. 

“It’s important to remember that the BLS data is based on the pay period including the week of the 12th, and the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator indicated a slight decline for the week of September 12th versus the week of August 12th,” Schultz said. “With the Indicator now recovered from the Labor Day holiday dip and continuing the sequential upward trend that began in early summer, we anticipate the BLS figures will reach neutral or slightly positive in the coming months.” 

September’s temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — was 1.68%, which was down slightly from August’s level of 1.69%. 

Sectors adding jobs in August included food services and drinking places where employment was up by 69,000. In addition, healthcare added 45,000 jobs in September, though the gain was below the monthly average increase of 57,0000 over the prior 12 months.  

The US unemployment rate edged down to 4.1% in September from 4.2% in August. The college-level unemployment rate, which can serve as a proxy for professional employment, fell to 2.3% in September from 2.5% in August. 

For more information on the jobs numbers, see SIA’s October 2024 Jobs Report released today. 

Looking Forward 

Hurricane Helene’s impact will show up in future data, though the impact on national data will be muted, Schultz said.