The Conference Board's U.S. employment trends index rose 0.3% in September from its revised August reading, but remains down 15.6% from its year-ago reading.

The index now stands at 88.5.

"While the employment numbers reported by the government last Friday were certainly disappointing, The Conference Board employment trends index suggests that the trend of declining job losses will continue," said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board. "But the road to recovery is definitely going to be bumpy and may last unusually long given the depth of the recession we have experienced."