2012 was a year of change in the U.S. economy and employment, and that change was reflected in the segment of the U.S. labor market comprised of temporary and contingent workers such as freelancers, contract-based workers, temps, staffing company workers and other non-employee workers. Those trends are the focus of a new IQNdex report that analyzes full-year trends for 2012, providing insights about the fast-growing segment of the U.S. labor force made up of temporary workers.

"Temporary workers are a leading indicator for where the economy is heading because U.S. companies increasingly rely on this type of labor to ramp up their growth plans," said John F. Martin , CEO of International Markets and Chief Product Officer. "IQNdex provides invaluable information for anyone who wants to understand trends in the labor market, including company executives, economists, HR professionals and managers responsible for services procurement."

Key insights in the 2012 U.S. IQNdex Retrospective include the following:

• During 2012, billing rates for temporary workers and contingent employees rose 2.7 points overall, outpacing inflation, as unemployment in the U.S. fell 0.7 percent, from 8.5 to 7.8 percent.
• This upward pressure on bill rates for temporary workers indicates rising demand for and/or dwindling supply of temporary workers as general employment rebounds.
• The steady rise in IQNdex in 2012, combined with decreasing unemployment, suggests that improving employment prospects will continue to drive up temporary labor rates in 2013.

Following are additional trends identified in the 2012 U.S. IQNdex Retrospective report, focusing on four major job sectors:

• The IQNdex for the Tech-IT sector rose 5.1 percent in 2012; increases were concentrated in design, development and business-facing roles, while rates for operational and support titles were flat.
• The Professional-Managerial job sector also experienced 2012 hourly rate increases that exceeded the pace of inflation, concentrated in titles requiring higher levels of education.
• Light Industrial rates were up a modest 0.7 percent in 2012, despite a continuing recovery in the manufacturing sector.
• Hourly bill rates for Office-Clerical fell 2.1 percent for the year. Together with Light Industrial, the decline in Office-Clerical rates illustrates that roles typically requiring a college degree increasingly command higher rates, while those needing less education are not receiving rate increases.