For the sixth consecutive month, the Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) rose in February. The index now stands at 93.5, up from January's 93.2.
During the past six months, the index increased by 13.4% (annual rate), the highest six-month growth rate since 1994."The continued rise in the ETI suggests that job growth is about to begin," said Gad Levanon, Associate Director, Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. "The past two jobless recoveries in 1991 and 2002 were a result of a continuous decline in manufacturing employment. This time, the strong recovery in manufacturing production has already led to two consecutive monthly increases in manufacturing employment. We are likely to see this trend continue over the next several months, which will contribute to overall job growth."
This month's increase in the Employment Trends Index was driven by positive contributions from four out of the eight components. The improving indicators were: Number of Temporary Employees, Job Openings, Industrial Production, and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales.
