Continuing to point to short-term growth, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing another modest increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of February.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged up by 0.2 percent in February, matching the increase seen in January. The modest increase by the index also came in line with economist estimates.
Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the Conference Board, said, "With the February increase, the LEI remains in growth territory, but weakness in the industrial sector and business investment is holding economic growth back, despite improvements in labor markets and consumer confidence."
The report showed that the modest increase by the leading index reflect positive contributions from seven of the ten indicators, including the interest rate spread, stock prices, building permits, and the Leading Credit Index.
Negative contributions from average weekly initial jobless claims, average weekly manufacturing hours and the ISM new orders index limited the upside for the index.
The coincident economic index also rose by 0.2 percent for the second consecutive month, reflecting positive contributions from all four indicators that make up the index.
Additionally, the Conference Board said the lagging economic index increased by 0.3 percent in February following a matching increase in January.
The increase partly reflected positive contributions from the average duration of unemployment and commercial and industrial loans outstanding.
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