2017.09.2110:23:00UTC+00U.S. Leading Economic Index Climbs More Than Expected In August

Reflecting large positive contributions from building permits, the yield spread, and consumer expectations, the Conference Board released a report on Thursday showing a bigger than expected increase by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed by 0.4 percent in August after rising by 0.3 percent in July. Economists had expected the index to edge up by 0.2 percent.

"The August gain is consistent with continuing growth in the U.S. economy for the second half of the year, which may even see a moderate pick up," said Ataman Ozyildirim, Director of Business Cycles and Growth Research at the Conference Board.

He added, "While the economic impact of recent hurricanes is not fully reflected in the leading indicators yet, the underlying trends suggest that the current solid pace of growth should continue in the near term."

The bigger than expected increase by the headline index came as the positive contributions from building permits, the interest rate spread, and consumer expectations more than offset a large negative contribution from initial jobless claims.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board said the coincident economic index came in unchanged in August following a 0.3 percent increase in July.

Positive contributions from employees on non-farm payrolls, personal income less transfer payments and manufacturing and trade sales were offset by a negative contribution from industrial production.

The report also said the lagging economic index rose by 0.3 percent in August after edging up by 0.2 percent in July.

The increase reflected positive contributions from commercial and industrial loans outstanding, the average duration of unemployment, the ratio of consumer installment credit outstanding to personal income, and the ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales.