Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
My first question on the workers comp and the accruals there, can you remind us what was the benefit from the accrual reversal you took in Q4 of last year?
Steven Shaw
That’s between workers comp and the other insurance there; it was about $4 million.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
About $4 million, okay; so when you guys came into ’08 the accrual that you took this year was lower than when you took in ’07 due to the improvements in the workers comp claims. What was the accrual that you took in fiscal ’08 to start the year versus ’07?
Steven Shaw
This year on the A&I side it’s down about 0.5% on direct labor and on the technical side it’s up very slightly from last year.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
Okay and year-to-date workers comp claims are they down year-over-year?
Steven Shaw
They are down; the trend is still continuing.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
Okay so now barring any large and unforeseen claims over the next seven weeks, can you maybe give us a sense of the size of what type of accrual reversal you could take in Q4 of this year?
Steven Shaw
Its trends continue the way they are to be as good as last year.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
Okay so could be near $4 million?
Steven Shaw
Right.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
Now, the Tech Placement business, the division, it was a little bit lower than what I was looking for last quarter up modestly sequentially, but down year-over-year and I understand your operating in the tough economy, but is this decline maybe indicative of you guys losing market share or you attribute it entirely just to the weakening market demand?
Steven Shaw
I wouldn’t say it’s the weakening market demand. You’ll notice that our gross sales are higher than last year and we’ve also had to eliminate sales because we’re servicing a VMC operation through this staffing group.
Josh Vogel - Sidoti & Company
Okay. Now on the Tech Placement side, do you have any visibility into this business for Q4; how is it looking at year-over-year through August so far? Can you maybe give us a sense of if this business is going to be down again Q4?
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