The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased in July to 128.3, up from 127.9 in June. This represents a 1.6 percent gain in the ETI compared to a year ago.
“The Employment Trends Index is still suggesting that job growth will slow in the coming months, despite strong employment numbers for June and July,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, at The Conference Board. ““It is surprising that hiring has been so robust, given the current slow economic growth environment. Perhaps, economic growth is actually stronger than the anemic 1.2 percent GDP growth reported for the past four quarters.”
July’s increase in the ETI was fueled by positive contributions from five of the eight components. In order from the largest positive contributor to the smallest, these were: Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find “Jobs Hard to Get,” Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry, Job Openings, Industrial Production, and Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance.
