UPDATE 1-TrueBlue forecasts Q2 profit below Wall Street view

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April 16 (Reuters) - TrueBlue Inc (TBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a provider of temporary blue-collar workers, posted a 15 percent fall in first-quarter profit, but the results beat Wall Street expectations.

The company forecast second-quarter earnings below market estimates.

"Our customers continue to face difficult economic conditions, and growth in the industrial staffing sector will be a challenge in the short term," Chief Executive Steve Cooper said in a statement.

For the first quarter, TrueBlue, formerly known as Labor Ready Inc, reported earnings of $8.8 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $10.3 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $324 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 19 cents a share, on revenue of $314 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

For the second quarter, the company expects earnings of 28 cents to 30 cents a share, on revenue of $350 million to $355 million.

Analysts were expecting earnings of 38 cents a share, on revenue of $367.3 million.

Earlier in the day, TrueBlue said it agreed to buy industrial staffing company Personnel Management Inc for about $19 million. If the deal closes at the end of April, it would add about $20 million to second-quarter revenue, TrueBlue said. (Reporting by Amulya Nagaraj in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)