Conference Board says businesses are hiring

The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased sharply in February, after decreasing slightly in January. The Index looks at multiple economic indicators to provide a snapshot of the labor market. The Conference Board is an international research and membership group that tracks major trends in business.

Gad Levanon, the board’s chief economist for North America, said the change is proof that job growth is accelerating.

“It seems that higher business confidence is carrying over to hiring,” Levanon said. “As a result, in 2017, labor supply constraints will be strongly felt across many industries and locations.”

The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor-market indicators: the percentage of respondents who say they find jobs hard to get, percentage of firms with positions they are unable to fill right now, the number of employees hired by the temporary-help industry, the ratio of involuntary part-time to all part-time workers, job openings, industrial production, real manufacturing and trade sales, and initial claims for unemployment insurance.