With positive contributions from financial indicators partly offset by negative contributions from other indicators, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing only a slight increase by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of May.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged up by 0.1 percent in May following an upwardly revised 0.8 percent increase in April.
Economists had been expecting the index to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.6 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.
The modest increase by the leading economic index reflected positive contributions from the interest rate spread, stock prices and the Leading Credit Index.
However, negative contributions from the ISM new orders index, building permits, average weekly initial jobless claims, and manufacturers' new orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft limited the upside for the index.
Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the Conference Board, said, "Despite month-to-month volatility, the LEI's six-month growth rate remains steady, suggesting that conditions in the economy remain resilient."
"Widespread gains in the leading indicators over the last six months suggest there is some upside potential for economic activity in the second half of the year," he added.
The report also showed that the coincident economic index rose by 0.2 percent in May following a 0.1 percent increase in April.
The increase by the coincident index reflected positive contributions from personal income less transfer payments, employees on non-farm payrolls and manufacturing and trade sales.
The Conference Board also said its lagging economic index increased by 0.3 percent in May after inching up by 0.1 percent in April.
Positive contributions from commercial and industrial loans outstanding, the ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income, the change in consumer prices for services, and the ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales contributed to the increase by the lagging index.
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