Hiring by Temp-Staffing Firms Points to Recovery

News Admin  March 5 2010 03:15:19 PM

By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Staffing agencies, paced by Robert Half International, saw their shares gain ground along with the broader market on Friday, driven by some upbeat data from the U.S. unemployment front.

Tig Gilliam, head of staffing company Adecco's North American division, says growth in temporary jobs is good news for the U.S. economy.

"What typically happens in a recovery is companies realize they need additional resources and they look for those in a very flexible fashion," told MarketWatch in a video interview. "And that's through the temporary employment market."

Robert Half  (RHI 29.92, +1.14, +3.96%) led the way, up 4% to $29.92 while Monster Worldwide  (MWW 15.69, +0.01, +0.07%) and Manpower (MAN 55.73, +2.03, +3.78%) weren't far behind, up 3.8% each.

All three have more than doubled over the past year.

Gilliam said that the economy added about 284,000 temporary jobs since August, which he described as a precursor to overall job growth.

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