The employment situation in the US improved for a second successive month in October, according to a leading indicator.

The Conference Board's employment trends index rose by 0.9 points last month to 89.3, which is the highest reading recorded since March 2009, but still substantially less than witnessed in October 2008.

The index, which is an aggregator of eight labor market indicators, revealed that the number of temporary employees, industrial production, trade sales and real manufacturing improved last month.

Gad Levanon, senior economist at the Conference Board, predicted that job losses will slow at the beginning of next year.

He said: "While layoffs have certainly declined in recent months, we still expect to see employers adding hours to their existing workforce before hiring will strongly increase."

Earlier this week, the labor department revealed that the US employment rate hit double figures in October for the first time in 26 years.