A gauge of the job market rose in May for the ninth straight month, indicating that a disappointing May jobs report released by the government last week may be a one-off, a research group said on Monday.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its Employment Trends Index rose to 95.7 in May, from a revised 95.2 in April.

The index is up about 9 percent from a year ago, according to the group.

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, associate director, macroeconomic research at The Conference Board.

(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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