Jobs
US Temporary-Help Drop Flashes Recession. Hiring Execs Disagree
- Temporary-help employment has fallen for six straight months
- Drops in past have preceded downturns in the US economy
Workers assemble washing machines in Clyde, Ohio.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
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US temporary-help employment, historically a harbinger of turns in the labor market and the economy, has fallen for six straight months and is signaling a recession ahead. Some industry veterans aren’t buying it.
Rather than presaging a broad economic downturn, executives say the pullback in hiring may instead represent a gradual cooling of an overheated job market and see the chance of a soft landing for the economy.