Index Up 2.0% Compared With Same Week in 2025
ASA Staffing Index Monthly Report, January 2026
Staffing employment continued to rebound during the week of Jan. 12–18, with the ASA Staffing Index increasing by 2.6% to a rounded value of 84. Staffing companies cited no one primary factor that hindered growth. Staffing jobs were 2.0% higher compared with the same period last year, up from 1.2% recorded the previous week.
New starts, however, decreased in the third week of the year, down by 8.4% from the prior week. Almost one in three staffing companies (32%) reported gains in new assignments week to week, below the average of 41% last year.
The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average decreased from the previous week to a rounded value of 80. Temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending Jan. 18 was 1.8% higher than during the same period in 2024.
“Weekly changes in the ASA Staffing Index continue to exceed their levels from prior years, suggesting gradual momentum in staffing employment,” said Noah Yosif, chief economist at ASA. “A more emphatic recovery still has yet to materialize as stagnant labor market conditions depress employers’ appetites for hiring and workers’ sentiments for quitting.”
This week will be used in the January monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Feb. 6.
The ASA Staffing Index is reported nine days after each workweek, making it a near real-time measure of staffing employment trends. ASA Staffing Starts are the number of temporary and contract employees placed in new assignments during the reporting week. ASA research shows that staffing employment has historically been a coincident economic indicator.
For more information, visit americanstaffing.net/index.
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About the American Staffing Association (ASA)
The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry. ASA and its state affiliates advance the interests of the industry across all sectors through advocacy, research, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices. For more information about ASA, visit americanstaffing.net.