The employment of temporary and contract workers in the U.S. declined by 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007, reports the American Staffing Association.

According to the ASA, this was the second consecutive quarter of year-to-year declines and marks only the fourth time since the second quarter of 2002 that quarterly employment in the staffing industry decreased from the same period of the previous year. Previous declines occurred in the fourth quarter of 2006, the first quarter of 2007, and the fourth quarter of 2007.