NEW YORK -- The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) fell to 90.1 in March, down 2.3 percent from February, and down 22.1 percent from a year ago.
"While we see a continued sharp fall in the ETI, the decline was not a strong as in the previous four months, suggesting that the most intense stage of job losses may be behind us," said Gad Levanon, Senior Economist at The Conference Board. "However, the drops in each of the eight components of the ETI in March signal that many more jobs will disappear over the next several months."
The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor-market indicators, including:
- Percentage of respondents who say they find "Jobs Hard to Get" (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey)
- Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor)
- Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able To Fill Right Now (National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation)
- Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons (BLS)
- Job Openings (BLS)
- Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board)
- Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)
For more information, visit www.conference-board.org/economics/employment.cfm