October’s jobs report is a further step towards an improvement in US labor market trends.

The leading example of this can be found in the temporary job market which has historically been a leading employment indicator. For the first time since late 2006, the US labor market created a significant number of temporary jobs in October, increasing by 33,700 positions.

October’s unemployment rate rose to 10.2%. Despite this, the monthly rate of total job losses is declining month over month – a promising trend which suggests that the US could reach zero net job losses by the end of 2009. Other signs of recovery can been seen in the third quarter’s GDP growth, higher than expected September factory good orders, and retailers expressing some confidence around the holiday shopping season.

These broader economic and early job market trends are crucially important to improving consumer confidence, and in turn, employer confidence to increase hiring.  Across the Adecco Group portfolio of companies we are seeing these early recovery trends take form and our clients are expressing more confidence in where the job market and economy are headed.  This shift in perspective suggests that we can expect these early improving job trends to continue. While employers remain cautious, they are certainly more optimistic compared to six months ago. These are all encouraging signs, and it’s important to keep in mind that thriving in an economic upturn will require the same foresight and agility as did surviving the recession – a critical challenge for employers now and in the coming months.