Leading indicators - 10:00

Full report here Released: Thursday, November 19, 2009 The Conference Board Leading Economic Index™ (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.3 percent in October, following a 1.0 percent gain in September, and a 0.4 percent rise in August. Download a PDF of the technical notes for underlying detail, diffusion indexes, components, contributions and graphs. Download a PDF of the press release with graph and summary table. Says Ataman Ozyildirim, Economist at The Conference Board: “After half a year of consecutive increases, the month-to-month growth of the LEI is stabilizing and the gains continue to be broad-based. Meanwhile, the coincident economic index has been essentially flat since June, after declining since November 2007. The composite indexes suggest the recovery is unfolding and economic activity should continue improving in the near term.” Says Ken Goldstein, Economist at The Conference Board: “The data indicates that economic recovery is finally setting in. We can expect slow growth through the first half of 2010. The pace of growth, however, will depend critically on how much demand picks up, and how soon.” The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index™ (CEI) for the U.S. was unchanged in October, following a 0.1 percent decline in September, and a 0.1 percent increase in August. The Conference Board Lagging Economic Index™ (LAG) declined 0.2 percent in October, following a 0.5 percent decline in September, and a 0.4 percent decline in August. The next release is scheduled for December 17, 2009 at 10 A.M. ET.