Conference Board ETI Rises to 108.53 in August, Signaling Continued Job Growth
Updated
Updated · PR Newswire · Sep 8
Conference Board ETI Rises to 108.53 in August, Signaling Continued Job Growth
1 articles · Updated · PR Newswire · Sep 8
Summary
The Employment Trends Index rose to 108.53 in August from a revised 107.76 in July, marking a second straight monthly increase and putting the gauge 2.0% above a year earlier.
The biggest lift came from easing labor-market strain: the involuntary part-time ratio fell to 16.2% from 17.4%, while the share of consumers saying jobs are hard to get dropped to 19.5% from 21.7%.
Other positive inputs included a 6,800 increase in temporary-help employment and estimated 0.1% gains in both industrial production and real manufacturing and trade sales.
Three components still weighed on the index—initial jobless claims, hard-to-fill positions at small firms, and job openings, which edged down 26,000 to 7.24 million—though claims stayed below June levels.
The Conference Board said the mix still supports continued hiring after U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000 in August, because the ETI is designed to signal payroll trends months ahead.