Employers will not add a significant number of new jobs over the next year, according to a report released today by The Conference Board.

The business organization said its monthly index of hiring trends remained at the same level in July as in the previous two months, and stands 20 percent lower than a year ago.

“The Employment Trends Index has been flat in the last three months,” Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board, said in a news release. “This suggests that we are getting closer to the point when employers are no longer cutting their work force.

“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.”

This month, components of the index showed a mixed picture. The improving indicators were initial claims for unemployment insurance, industrial production, part-time workers for economic reasons and real manufacturing and trade sales.

The index combines eight labor-market indicators, each of which has proved accurate in its own area. The Conference Board said that combining the indicators filters out so-called “noise” to show underlying trends more clearly.