Area Development
The Conference Board's Employment Trend Index (ETI) increased in June for the eleventh consecutive month. The index reached 96.7 last month, up from 96.1 in May and 86.9 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 of 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."

Six of eight criteria of the ETI increased last month, including number of temporary employees, job openings, part-time workers for economic reasons, industrial production, and real manufacturing and trade sales.