Temp hiring falls for 6th straight month

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of temporary workers hired has fallen each of the past six months, and was down 2 percent in July from the start of the year, according to a news report Monday.

Major temporary employment agencies also saw revenue declines, said the Wall Street Journal. Manpower (Charts, Fortune 500), the world's second-largest staffing firm, saw U.S. revenue fall nearly 9 percent in the second quarter as demand fell, said the report.

Kelly Services (Charts, Fortune 500), which provides companies with clerical and industrial workers, saw a 6 percent decline in revenue in the quarter, according to the Journal.

In 2001, a fall in temporary employment occurred roughly a year before a drop in overall employment, said the Journal. Economists believe that businesses usually cut temporary workers first before dismissing full-time employees.