The Conference Board’s US employment trends index (ETI) edged up for the second consecutive month in October. The index now stands at 89.3, up 0.7% from the revised September figure. However, it remains 13.2% below its level a year ago.

“The ETI has likely turned a corner in September, and the historical relationship between the index and employment suggests that job losses will end in early 2010,” says Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. “While layoffs have certainly declined in recent months, we still expect to see employers adding hours to their existing workforce before hiring will strongly increase.”

The index aggregates eight labour-market indicators, each of which has proven accurate in its own area. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out so-called ‘noise’ to show underlying trends more clearly.