The Conference Board Employment Trends Index increased again in May for the ninth consecutive month. The index now stands at 95.7, up from April’s revised figure of 95.2. The index is up almost 9 points from a year ago.

“The ongoing growth in the Employment Trends Index suggests that the disappointing uptick in payroll employment in May could just be a one-month blip, and that jobs will likely expand further in the next several months,” said Gad Levanon of The Conference Board. “However, as some of the components of the (index) have yet to signal robust gains, the pace of recovery in employment may remain moderate.”

The Employment Trends Index aggregates eight labor-market indicators, each of which has proven accurate in its own area. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out so-called “noise” to show underlying trends more clearly.

This month’s increase in the Employment Trends Index was driven by positive contributions from five out of the eight components, The Conference Board said.