Leading Economic Index for U.S. Indicates Continued Strengthening

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.6 percent in July to 110.7, following a 0.5 percent increase in June, and a 0.1 percent increase in May.

“The U.S. LEI increased in July, suggesting the US economy will continue expanding at a solid pace for the remainder of this year,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at The Conference Board. “The strengths among the components of the leading index were very widespread, with unemployment claims, the financial components, and the ISM New Orders Index making the largest positive contributions.”

The strong indication for future growth follows reports of sky-high small business confidence, strong retail sales data, a rise in industrial output and inflationary pressures remaining in-check.