The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the U.S. Increased in December

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The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S. increased 0.5% in December to 124.6 (2010 = 100), following a 0.1% increase in November, and a 0.2% increase in October.

“The U.S. Leading Economic Index increased in December, suggesting the economy will continue growing at a moderate pace, perhaps even accelerating slightly in the early months of this year,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at The Conference Board. “December’s large gain was mainly driven by improving sentiment about the outlook and suggests the business cycle still showed strong momentum in the final months of 2016.”

The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index (CEI) for the U.S. increased 0.3% in December to 114.3 (2010=100), following no change in November, and a 0.2% increase in October.

The Conference Board Lagging Economic Index (LAG) for the U.S. increased 0.3% in December to 123.4 (2010 = 100), following a 0.4% increase in November, and a 0.2% increase in October.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S.

The composite economic indexes are the key elements in an analytic system designed to signal peaks and troughs in the business cycle. The leading, coincident, and lagging economic indexes are essentially composite averages of several individual leading, coincident, or lagging indicators. They are constructed to summarize and reveal common turning point patterns in economic data in a clearer and more convincing manner than any individual component – primarily because they smooth out some of the volatility of individual components.