The Conference Board's U.S. employment trends index rose to a reading of 97.7 in April from March's revised reading of 93.9. The index is up 7.1% from a year ago.

"The employment trends index continued to rise in April, but its rate of growth has slowed in recent months," said Gad Levanon, associate director of macroeconomic research at The Conference Board. "Going forward, we do not expect job growth to accelerate much beyond this month's rate, as the overall increase in economic activity is likely to moderate during the second half of 2010."