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Employment Trends Index increased in August to 49.46
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The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) increased in August, following increases in May, June, and July. The index now stands at 52.55, up from 51.37 (an upward revision) in July. However, the index is down from 109.8 a year ago.
“Despite the rise in new COVID-19 cases at the beginning of the summer, job growth continues to gain momentum: the Employment Trends Index increased for the fourth consecutive month,” said Gad Levanon, Head of The Conference Board Labor Markets Institute. “Over the coming months, job growth will persist as industries impacted by social distancing such as travel, hotels, restaurants, and personal care will continue to recover. However, another wave of infections this fall would limit the expansion of the US labor market.”
August’s increase was fueled by positive contributions from six of the eight components. From the largest positive contributor to the smallest, the components were: Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance; the Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry; the Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time to All Part-time Workers; Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now; Job Openings; and Industrial Production.
The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor market indicators, each of which has proven accurate in its own area. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out “noise” to show underlying trends more clearly.
Posted: September 8, 2020 Tuesday 10:00 AM