The Conference Board (08/17/2012)
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. increased 0.4% in July to 95.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.4% decline in June, and a 0.3% increase in May. “With this month’s increase, the U.S. LEI returned to its May level,” says Ataman Ozyildirim, economist at the Conference Board. “The majority of its components improved, led by large contributions from housing permits and initial unemployment claims. The LEI’s six-month growth rate seems to be stabilizing, pointing to a continuing but slow expansion in economic activity for the rest of the year.”