Forecast for job growth is sunny, says Conference Board

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Updated: March 8, 2012 8:13AM

The outlook for jobs looks brighter for the rest of the first quarter, according to the latest Conference Board Employment Trends Index released Monday.

The index edged up to 105.81 in January from 105.04 in December, rising for the fourth straight month. The index suggests “somewhat more robust job growth is likely to continue in this quarter,” Gad Levanon, director of Macroeconomic Research at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

“Beyond that we still remain cautious,” Levanon noted. “We expect sluggish growth in economic activity in the first half of 2012 and therefore we don’t foresee the strengthening of the labor market to be sustained in the second quarter of 2012.”

The index factors in various economic information, including the percentage of firms with positions they’re not able to fill right now, the number of employees hired by the temporary staffing industry, manufacturing and trade sales, industrial production and job openings.