The Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI) fell in March. The index now stands at 111.20, down from 111.43 (an upward revision) in February. The March figure is 3.7 percent higher than a year ago.

 "Despite the decline in March, the Employment Trends index is still signaling moderate job growth in the coming months," saidGad Levanon , Director of Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. "The current trend suggests faster growth than the disappointing increase of 88,000 jobs in March. At the same time, 200,000 new jobs per month in the current economic environment is not in the cards either."

March's weakening in the ETI was driven by negative contributions from four of its eight components. The declining indicators — from the largest negative contributor to the smallest — were Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now, Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales, Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance, and Job Openings.

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.