May 11 (Bloomberg) -- A measure of U.S. job prospects in April showed the smallest decline in almost a year, indicating firings may be abating, a private report showed.

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index last month decreased 0.7 percent to 89.5, the smallest decrease since June 2008, from 90.1 in March, the New York-based research group said today. The index was down 22 percent from a year earlier.

Companies including DuPont Co. and Microsoft Corp. continue to warn of the potential need for staff reductions, though the rate of cutting is decelerating. The Labor Department last week said payrolls in April shrank by the least since October.

“The outlook for employment is much less negative than in prior months, but still it is not likely that employment growth will resume before the final quarter of the year,” Gad Levanon, a senior economist at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

The index aggregates eight labor-market indicators to forecast short-term hiring trends. On average, the employment trends gauge can predict job declines six to nine months in advance and can signal a rebound in hiring as many as three months before the fact, the Conference Board said.

Employers cut 539,000 workers from payrolls in April, fewer than economists had forecast. Still, the jobless rate surged to a 25-year high of 8.9 percent, the Labor Department reported on April 3.

Companies continue to announce job cuts. DuPont said May 7 it plans to eliminate an additional 2,000 jobs to try to cut costs amid persistently weak demand. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said May 5 the company has completed most of the planned 5,000 job cuts it announced earlier this year and may reduce the staff further if necessary.

To contact the reporter on this story: Courtney Schlisserman in Washington at cschlisserma@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 11, 2009 10:14 EDT