The Conference Board Employment Trends Index, which uses eight different labor-market indicators to pick out underlying trends that are moving the job market, reached its highest point since June 2008 this morning. The report doesn’t point to fast accelerating job growth (that won’t come unless GDP growth picks up), but does bode well for the steady, consistent job creation needed to keep the recovery moving forward.
Friday’s April Jobs Report pointed to strong and consistent job creation over the first four months of the year – businesses have now added over 800,000 jobs in 2013, and the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low at 7.5%
But the strength in the Conference Board’s report comes from several other labor market indicators. The largest positive factor was a significant increase in the number of temporary employees, which signals that employers need more staff to meet higher demand and may move to hire full-time if growth is consistent. The drop in jobless claims – last week, the Labor Department’s measure of layoffs hit its lowest level since January 2008, just after the recession began – was also a key component of the Conference Board’s report.
There’s still a long way to go, but the Conference Board’s report suggests that the consistent job growth we’ve seen so far this year may have staying power.