U.S. Leading Economic Index Climbs 0.8% In September, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - Suggesting moderate growth in the short-term, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing that its index of leading U.S. economic indicators rose by more than economists had anticipated in the month of September.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.8 percent in September, while revised data showed that the index was unchanged in August.

Economists had been expecting the index to rise by 0.6 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the Conference Board, said, "The LEI picked up in September, after no change in August, and the strengths among its components have been very widespread over the past six months."

"The outlook for improving employment and further income growth are expected to support the moderate expansion in the U.S economy for the remainder of the year," he added.

The bigger than expected increase by the leading index reflected positive contributions from nine of the ten indicators that make up the index ,including the interest rate spread, the Leading Credit Index, average weekly initial jobless claims, and ISM new orders index.

The Conference Board said the only negative contributor to the leading index was average consumer expectations for business conditions.

The report also showed that the coincident economic Index increased by 0.4 percent in September after edging up by 0.1 percent in August.

Positive contributions from industrial production, non-farm payroll employment, personal income less transfer payments and manufacturing and trade sales contributed to the increase by the coincident index.

Additionally, the Conference Board said the lagging economic index inched up by 0.1 percent in September following a 0.3 percent increase in August.

The modest uptick by the lagging index reflected positive contributions from commercial and industrial loans outstanding, the ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income and the average duration of unemployment.

However, a negative contribution from the change in consumer prices for services limited the upside for the lagging index.