News release: “The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) increased again in June for the eleventh consecutive month. The index now stands at 96.7, up from May’s revised figure of 96.1. The index is up 9.8 percent from a year ago. “The weak growth in private sector employment in the last two months has been disappointing given the robust recovery in production in recent quarters,” said Gad Levanon, Associate Director, Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. “The moderate increase in the Employment Trends Index in the last two months suggests that many employers are now concerned that the recovery is losing momentum.” This month’s increase in the Employment Trends Index was driven by positive contributions from six out of the eight components. The improving indicators were: Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now, Number of Temporary Employees, Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons, Job Openings, Industrial Production and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales.”