NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A gauge of the U.S. job market
remained unchanged in July for the third straight month,
indicating that employment will remain weak throughout the
coming year, a research group said on Monday.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said its
Employment Trends Index was steady at 88.3 in July, the same
level it read for the gauge's May and June revised figures.
The index is now down 20.1 percent from a year ago,
according to the group.
"This suggests that we are getting closer to the point when
employers are no longer cutting their workforce," said Gad
Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board.
"However, since we are expecting a weak economic recovery,
and given the record number of involuntary part-time workers --
many of whom are likely to move to full-time positions before
new employees are hired -- we do not expect significant job
growth over the next year."
(Reporting by Camille Drummond; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
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