Temporary-Help Employment Fell While Total Payrolls Kept Growing
This chart compares seasonally adjusted BLS employment in temporary-help services with total nonfarm payrolls, independently indexed to 2019. Temporary help is a small, economically sensitive industry—not every contingent worker and not an official recession indicator.
Temporary help is one small, cyclical industry; it does not cover every contingent worker.
What does it show?
The staffing industry has contracted sharply even as aggregate payroll employment expanded—an unusual split, but not an official recession signal by itself.
Methodology
BLS Current Employment Statistics for temporary help services (TEMPHELPS) and total nonfarm payroll employment (PAYEMS), both seasonally adjusted and independently indexed to their 2019 averages. Temporary help is economically sensitive, but it is one small industry—not an official recession indicator or a measure of every contingent worker.