he Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) decreased slightly in November, the fourth decline this year. The index now stands at 107.82, down from 107.84 (a downward revision) in October. The November figure is 3.3 percent higher than a year ago.

"The Employment Trends Index remains weak and suggests that employment growth over the next several months is likely to slow again," said Gad Levanon, Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. "Employment growth typically lags economic growth, and with the economy expected to decelerate in the current quarter and early 2013, a slowdown in employment won't be far behind." November's decline in the ETI was driven by a large negative contribution from Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance.

The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor-market indicators, each of which has proven accurate in its own area. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out "noise" to show underlying trends more clearly.