The Conference Board’s US Employment Trends Index rose in July to a reading of 128.28 from June’s downwardly revised reading of 127.89. The July reading, which followed an increase in June, is up 1.6% from the same month a year ago.  

“The Employment Trends Index is still suggesting that job growth will slow in the coming months, despite strong employment numbers for June and July,” said Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, at The Conference Board. “It is surprising that hiring has been so robust, given the current slow economic growth environment. Perhaps, economic growth is actually stronger than the anemic 1.2% GDP growth reported for the past four quarters.”

Positive contributions from five of the eight components fueled July’s increase. The percentage of respondents who say they find “jobs hard to get” was the largest positive contributor, followed by the number of employees hired by the temporary-help industry.

The US Department of Labor on Friday reported the US added 255,000 jobs in July and gained 17,000 temp jobs.