Hours worked in the US staffing industry fell 2% year over year in the week ended July 2, suggesting a trend of slightly lower volumes that began around Memorial Day, according to the latest SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator, released today.
This marked the first year-over-year decline in the indicator since the week ended Dec. 12, 2020.
Hours were down 2.6% week over week, partly due to some Fourth of July holiday closures. Although professional staffing hours were up 6% year over year, SIA noted that some of the decline in professional hours was due to the decrease in healthcare staffing volume as the sector continues to recover from the pandemic.
The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator measures hours worked. It comprises two sets of analyses: a year-over-year comparison showing how the most recent week compared to the same week 12 months previously and an indexed value that has been benchmarked against data from the week ended Jan. 19, 2019.
| Week ending July 2, 2022 | Indexed value | Year over year | Week over week |
| US staffing | 99 | -2% | -2.6% |
| Commercial staffing | 85 | -5% | -2.5% |
| Professional staffing | 132 | +6% | -2.9% |
In the week ended July 2, the index value was 99, following readings of 102 in each of the prior two weeks as revised. This is the lowest index value observed since the week ended June 11 and the second-lowest since the week ended Jan. 15, 2021.
The full report on the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator, which provides additional information, is available online.