Index Up 0.5% From August, And Up 3.3% Compared to Same Week in 2025
ASA Staffing Index Monthly Report, September 2026
Compared with the August monthly report, staffing employment grew by 0.5%. Staffing employment declined during the week of Sept. 7–13, with the ASA Staffing Index decreasing by 1.4% to a rounded value of 93. Many staffing companies cited the Labor Day holiday as a barrier to growth that week. Staffing jobs were 3.3% higher compared with the same period last year, down from 7.2% recorded the previous week.
New starts also decreased during the 37th week of the year, down 5.6% from the prior week. A little over four in 10 staffing companies (42%) reported gains in new assignments week to week, close to the average of 41% so far in 2026.
The ASA Staffing Index four-week moving average, however, edged up from the previous week to hold at a rounded value of 94. Temporary and contract staffing employment for the four weeks ending Sept. 13 was 5.8% higher than during the same period in 2025, down from 6.4% recorded the previous week.
“Total staffing employment declined as expected over Labor Day, but the industry at-large continues to hold onto gains made throughout this year,” said Noah Yosif, chief economist at ASA. “The staffing industry’s utility to employers and job seekers alike remains strong as economic uncertainty persists.”
This week will be used in the September monthly employment situation report scheduled to be issued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Oct. 2.
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 advances 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.