The Road To Recovery Is Through Temporary Help

Anyone who has worked in business knows that as business picks up, you don't immediately run out and hire a full time worker with all the company benefits. More than likely, you will add a less costly temporary worker until you are absolutely sure that a full-time worker is actually needed. Otherwise, you might wind up with an expensive over-staffed condition.

That's the important role that temporary help plays and that is why any measured addition of temporary help as part of our overall workforce is a pretty good indicator that our economy is turning around. Unfortunately, though, the level of temporary help in America fell again last month; making it the 19th straight month that this has happened (Click to See Full Story: "Temp Hiring Falters Again").

Unless and until the hiring of temporary help turns around, no one can even think this economy is making a real comeback. When the hiring of temps does start up, you might be able to predict that the unemployment will begin leveling off in about 6 to 10 months from that time. So, we're not there now and that probably says things aren't going to get any better for the employment situation until the 2nd quarter of 2010 or later. Prior to that, we will probably continue to lose jobs. I don't think that an unemployment rate of 11 percent or even higher is entirely out of the question with the temporary help situation still in the doldrums. But, that's just my opinion.