The U.S. job market continued to improve in February for the sixth consecutive month, largely due to a strong recovery in manufacturing production, a research group said on Monday.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said its Employment Trends Index rose to 93.5 in February from 93.2 in January.

Over the last six months the index has climbed 13.4 percent, marking its highest six-month growth rate since 1994. The group said expects this trend to hold steady.

The past two jobless recoveries in 1991 and 2002 were a result of a continuous decline in manufacturing employment. This time, the strong recovery in manufacturing production has already led to two consecutive monthly increases in manufacturing employment, said Gad Levanon, senior economist at The Conference Board.

We are likely to see this trend continue over the next several months, which will contribute to overall job growth.

(Reporting by Camille Drummond; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Unemployment