Suggesting that the economy is gaining traction, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in July.
The Conference Board said its leading economic index rose by 0.9 percent in July following an upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in June.
Economists had been expecting the index to climb by 0.6 percent compared to the 0.3 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
The notable increase by the leading economic index reflected positive contributions from seven of the ten indicators that make up the index.
The positive contributors included the interest rate spread, building permits, average weekly initial jobless claims, and the ISM new orders index.
Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the Conference Board, said, "Although housing has been one of the weakest components this year, the sharp gain in building permits helped boost the LEI in July."
"Financial markets and labor market conditions have also supported recent gains, but business spending indicators remain soft and their contribution marginal," he added.
The report also showed that the coincident economic index edged up by 0.2 percent in July after rising by 0.3 percent in June. All four of the indicators that make up the coincident index increased in July.
The Conference Board said its lagging economic index also ticked up by 0.2 percent in July following a 0.5 percent increase in June.
The increase by the lagging index reflected positive contributions from the average duration of unemployment, the ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income and commercial and industrial loans outstanding.
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