The Conference Board's U.S. employment trends index fell 0.1% in August from its revised July number. It now stands at 88.1, and is down 18.5% from a year ago.

"The flatness of the employment trends index in recent months suggests that we won't see job growth until the end of the year," said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board. "The fact that the index cannot get off the ground is another sign of a weak recovery, perhaps a jobless one."

The employment trends index aggregates eight labor market indicators into a composite index.