U.S. Conference Board jobs index falls for 20th straight month

The U.S. Conference Board said Monday that its own measure of the employment market fell once again in March, continuing a year-and-a-half downward trend for the figure.

The New York-based business think-tank said its employment trends slid fell to 90.1 in March, down from February's 92.2 and off more than 22 per cent from March 2008.

The Conference Board said that while the indicator declined, the fall was not as bad as in the past four months.

Still, all the numbers which constituted the overall index fell in March, a likely sign that the labour market will remain weak in the coming months, said the organization's senior economist.

"The drop in each of the eight components of the (employment trends index) in March signals that many more jobs will disappear over the next several months," said the Conference Board's Gad Levanon.

The Conference Board derives its index from a number of other figures, such as percentage of companies that do not fill outstanding job openings.

Losing streak

The index has dropped for 20 straight months, since July 2007, a date well before the credit crisis of last August and September.

Overall, however, the employment index could indicate an economic recovery, said Bart van Ark, the Conference Board's chief economist.

"If we assume the decline in consumers' expectations levels off somewhat, the monthly decline in employment drops below 500,000 and the stock markets find a bottom, we might see the economy return to positive territory by the middle of the year," van Ark said prior to the latest employment release.

So far, the Conference Board's own consumer confidence index was essentially flat in March. As well, some stock watchers believe a tepid recovery in equity valuations might be underway.

More than 660,000 workers, however, lost their jobs in March, well below van Ark's recovery level.