The Master IQNdex illustrates the net direction of temporary labor bill rates by analyzing millions of data points and summarizing the major job sectors and geographic regions in the US.
At the aggregate level, US temporary bill rates have been very stable over the past year. Between June 2011 and May 2012, the Master IQNdex value varied less than a point. There has been a subtle upward trend, but the rate of increase remained less than inflation during the same period.
June 2012 saw a half point rise over May, driven by overall rate increases in every job sector except Office-Clerical. Whether this is merely a blip in the long-term trend or the start of a period of more pronounced upward pressure on temporary labor bill rates remains to be seen in the months to come.
Temporary Worker Rate Change: Master IQNdex
The recent employment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics underscore the increasing importance of temporary labor to US business. New hires increasingly are being made through temporary employment agencies. While temp agency employees constitute less than 2% of the total US non-farm workforce, 15% of all new jobs created in the US in 2012 have been through temporary agency placements. The bill rate trends for these new hires are a matter of immediate interest to most firms who are staffing for growth and acquiring new talent.
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