NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) increased to 108.53 in August, from an upwardly revised reading of 107.76 in July. The Employment Trends Index is a leading composite index for payroll employment. When the Index increases, employment is likely to grow as well, and vice versa. Turning points in the Index indicate that a change in the trend of job gains or losses is about to occur in the coming months.

“The ETI increased for a second consecutive month in August and is now up 2.0% from its level one year ago,” said Conrad Qi, Economic Data Scientist Associate, The Conference Board. “Although they were mixed in August on a month-over-month basis, all eight components of the ETI delivered positive average contributions over the past six months. This suggests support for continued job growth after nonfarm payrolls grew by 162,000 in August.”

Qi continued, “The largest positive contributions to the ETI came from declines in the ratio of involuntarily part-time to all part-time workers and the share of consumers reporting that jobs are hard to get. The involuntary part-time ratio fell to 16.2% in August from 17.4% in July, signaling less underemployment. The share of consumers who reported jobs are “hard to get”—an ETI component from the Consumer Confidence Survey®—declined to 19.5% in August from a revised 21.7% in July, indicating improved perceptions of current job availability.”

Among the other positive contributors, employment in temporary help services increased by 6,800 in August. Industrial production and real manufacturing and trade sales were each estimated to have risen by 0.1%.

Meanwhile, initial claims for unemployment insurance made the largest negative contribution to the ETI in August. However, claims remained below their June level, suggesting only a modest pickup in layoff activity. Likewise, the percentage of [small] firms with positions not able to fill right now fell to 35% in August from 36% in July but remained elevated by historical standards. Job openings were estimated to have edged down by 26,000 to 7.24 million.

Ranked by the magnitude of their contributions, three of the ETI’s eight components contributed negatively to the index in August: Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance, the Percentage of Firms with Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now, and Job Openings. The following five components contributed positively:

• Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time to All Part-time Workers,
• Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find ‘Jobs Hard to Get,’
• Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry,
• Industrial Production, and
• Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales

The eight leading indicators of employment aggregated into the Employment Trends Index include:

• Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find “Jobs Hard to Get” (The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Survey^®)
• Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance (U.S. Department of Labor)
• Percentage of Firms with Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now (© National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation)
• Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time to All Part-time Workers (BLS) ⴕ
• Job Openings (BLS)*
• Industrial Production (Federal Reserve Board)*
• Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis)**

*Statistical imputation for the recent month
**Statistical imputation for the two most recent months
ⴕ Note missing October 2025 value for Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time Workers estimated using linear interpolation

The Conference Board publishes the Employment Trends Index monthly, at 10 a.m. ET, on the Monday that follows each Friday release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report. The technical notes to this series are available on The Conference Board website: http://www.conference-board.org/data/eti.cfm.

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org.

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SOURCE The Conference Board