Temporary help jobs rose by 13,400 in June from May and the temp penetration rate reached an all-time high for the third month in a row, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today’s revised data also increased May’s previously reported gain of 12,900 US temp jobs to a gain of 16,800.
In addition, the year-over-year growth rate in temp jobs was 4.74% in June, down from 4.94% in May but still the largest second-largest year-over-year growth rate since June 2015.
The temp penetration rate — temp jobs as a percent of total employment — rose to a record-high 2.070% in June from 2.064% in May.
“Despite being in the latter stages of an economic expansion, the temporary penetration rate continues to reach new heights,” said Tony Gregoire, director of research, the Americas, at Staffing Industry Analysts.
Total nonfarm jobs rose by 222,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in June from 4.3% in May. The college-level unemployment rate — which can serve as a proxy for professional employment — edged up to 2.4% in June from 2.3% in May.
Bloomberg reports that while payroll gains were broad-based and boosted by the biggest jump in government jobs in almost a year, wages were below forecasts, even with the jobless rate close to the lowest since 2001.
The Conference Board noted the strong job growth in June and the upward revisions for May and April suggest that the concerns about a major slowdown in job growth were premature.
“If monthly employment growth remains at the 150,000-200,000 range, the labor market will continue to rapidly tighten, given the slow growth in labor supply,” The Conference Board stated. “Wage growth may resume accelerating later in the year.”
Solid employment growth and a tightening labor market are likely to support household spending moving forward, according to The Conference Board. In such an environment, the Fed is unlikely to have second thoughts about normalizing interest rates and two additional rate hikes in 2017 are not out of the question.
“The report shows a small uptick in the labor force participation rate, a welcome development for the economy,” according to Express Employment Professionals CEO Bob Funk.
“It’s good to see even this small increase in the labor force participation rate,” Funk said. “Businesses are having a hard time finding workers. It’s important for people to get off the sidelines and into the workforce.”
“Today’s jobs report shows the significant pressure that companies are under to attract, acquire and retain skilled employees,” Randstad Sourceright CEO Rebecca Henderson said in a statement. “It is this growing talent gap that is bolstering the use of contingent labor, which almost half of the human capital leaders we recently surveyed said accounts for as much as 40% of the total workforce.”
Henderson also noted the BLS’ next survey of contingent and alternative employment arrangements in the US workforce — expected to be released later this year — is likely to indicate a dramatic shift to a more flexible workforce in the US and demonstrate how companies are able to keep growing despite low unemployment figures.
ARTICLE SOURCE: Staffing Industry