More softening is seen in the labor market, according to the Conference Board’s employment trends index, which slid 2.3% to 90.1 in March from an upwardly revised 92.2 in February.
The February index was originally reported as 91.0.
The index fell 22.1% in the past year, according to the board.
“While we see a continued sharp fall in the ETI, the decline was not as strong as in the previous four months, suggesting that the most intense stage of job losses may be behind us,” said Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board. “However, the drops in each of the eight components of the ETI in March signal that many more jobs will disappear over the next several months.”
ETI has declined the past 20 months, and the weakness is seen in all eight of its components, most notably over the past six months in temporary-help hires and part-time workers for economic reasons, Levanon noted.
