The Conference Board’s US employment trends index edged down in February to a reading of 129.09 from January’s reading of 129.15, which was revised upward. The February reading is up 2.1% from the same month a year ago.  

“The flatness of the employment trends index since September suggests that the rapid job growth in recent months is likely to slow down,” said Gad Levanon, managing director of macroeconomic and labor market research at The Conference Board. “In particular, we are concerned about the temporary help industry component, one of the most powerful leading indicators of employment growth, which has declined for the second month in a row in February.”

February’s decrease in the economic trends index was driven by negative contributions from five of the eight components, with the percentage of respondents who say they find “jobs hard to get,” the largest negative contributor.

The US Department of Labor on Friday reported the US added 242,000 jobs in February, but lost 9,800 temp jobs.