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Employment Trends Index fell in January 2022 to 117.62
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The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) fell in January and now stands at 117.62, down slightly from 117.94 in December 2021 (an upward revision).
“The Employment Trends Index was basically flat in January,” said Frank Steemers, Senior Economist at The Conference Board. “It appears that the Omicron variant did not impact job growth as much as initially feared. Solid job growth is likely to continue over the next months."
Steemers added: “Employers appear to be managing these pandemic disruptions better, even as many workers called in sick or had to quarantine in January. On the other hand, employers are still trying hard to hold on to their workers in a tight labor market. Hiring and retention continues to be a challenge which we do not expect to dissipate anytime soon, especially for employers of manual labor and services. While an improving outlook for hiring and wages may attract some additional workers back to the labor market, employers may increasingly need to consider automating tasks or using different hiring strategies to help meet labor demands.”
January’s decrease in the Employment Trends Index was driven by negative contributions from three of eight components. From the largest negative contributor to the smallest, these were: Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance; the Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now; and Job Openings.
Posted: February 7, 2022 Monday 10:00 AM