The U.S. Producer Price Index for employment services rose by 1.9 percent year-over-year in March. The current level of the index is 130.3, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means employment services did well in March. The prices for the services of employment placement agencies, temporary help services, executive search services and professional employer organizations went up. This could be due in part to the usual inflation that affects the economy. It could also be due to an increase in demand. According to the index, the final demand for products in the U.S. rose by 0.5 percent in March.
One possible reason for the increase in demand for temporary workers might be their cost effectiveness. Temporary workers are inexpensive solutions who can be increased or reduced at a moment's notice with very little going in the way of paperwork or HR concerns.
Temporary workers can also boost the economy in certain places. For example, in Buncombe county, North Carolina, the unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in February, a six-year low. The reason for the improvement in the employment rate is the growing number of temporary work that has come into the community.
Tom Tveidt with SYNEVA Economics in Asheville, N.C., explained manufacturers may be filling some of their needs through temporary hires, keeping down expenses.
