Press Release Details

TROY, Mich., Mar 3, 2004 -- The following commentary by Carl Camden, president of global staffing company Kelly Services, Inc., is offered in advance of the February unemployment rate announcement due Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor. In January, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent, and the economy gained a reported 112,000 jobs that month.

"We are seeing demand for staffing services increasing across the job spectrum, and the recovery continues to broaden from temporary staffing into permanent jobs. We also have witnessed modest improvement in temporary-to- permanent job placement of late, which shows a good foothold in the recovery of permanent jobs.

"While the job creation numbers have not been dramatic so far, they nonetheless are heading in a positive direction. Shedding the morass and inertia of the past three years was a long time coming. The pace of hiring should now climb steadily right along with thermometer readings.

"Some hiring vigilance does persist as companies seek to make up ground on the losses of recent years. But the length of the average workweek is pulling back from its peak, and the accumulated impact of economic stimulus has set the table for sequentially higher increases in monthly job creation."

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Troy, Mich., offering staffing solutions that include temporary services, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. Kelly serves 200,000 customers through 2,500 company owned and operated offices in 26 countries. Kelly provides employment for nearly 700,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, light industrial, education, health care and home care. Revenue in 2003 was $4.3 billion. Visit www.kellyservices.com .

SOURCE Kelly Services, Inc.

Bob Doetsch of Kelly Services, +1-248-244-5362