The Conference Board’s US employment trends index edged up in September to a reading of 128.76 from August’s downwardly revised reading of 128.66. The September reading is up 4.6% from the same month a year ago.  

“While Friday’s job report was a disappointment, and the trend in job growth is probably slower than in the last couple of years, the employment trends index does not suggest a negative shock will impact the labor market any time soon,” said Gad Levanon, managing director of macroeconomic and labor market research at The Conference Board. “Slower job growth is more in line with the mediocre GDP growth of recent years, and also suggests that the very low productivity growth during that time is not sustainable.”

The US Department of Labor on Friday reported the US added 142,000 jobs in September; the number of temp jobs rose by 4,600.