The Conference Board’s US employment trends index rose in October to a reading of 129.48 from September’s downwardly revised reading of 128.65. The October reading is up 4.1% from the same month a year ago.  

“The employment trends index continues to show solid and broad-based gains, with no significant slowdown in job growth expected through the first quarter of 2016,” said Gad Levanon, managing director of macroeconomic and labor market research at The Conference Board. “Solid job growth and the lack of recovery in labor-force participation suggest that the unemployment rate may dip below 4.5 percent by this time next year.”

The US Department of Labor on Friday reported the US added 271,000 jobs in October; the number of temp jobs rose by 24,500, the largest month-over-month gain since November 2014.