he Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) increased in February. The index now stands at 111.14, up from 109.93 (an upward revision) in January. The February figure is 3.2 percent higher than a year ago.

"As a result of the large increase in February, and positive revisions to earlier months, the Employment Trends index is signaling an improving employment environment," said Gad Levanon , Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. "However, even though the labor market has gained in recent months, the looming sequester is likely to slow the pace of job creation in the near term."

February's improvement in the ETI was driven by positive contributions from seven of its eight components. The rising indicators — from the largest positive contributor to the smallest — were Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now, Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales, Industrial Production, Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry, Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time to All Part-time Workers, Job Openings and Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance.