Leading Economic Indicators Drop 0.5% in May

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.

he index of leading U.S. economic indicators fell 0.5% in May, the Conference Board said Monday.

In its monthly gauge of the economy’s performance over the next three to six months, the board's LEI reading fell fell 114.1, following a revised unchanged level in April that was originally reported as a 0.2% drop.

Analysts had forecast a 0.3% decline for May, Bloomberg reported.

Nine of the ten indicators that make up the LEI fell in May, including initial jobless claims, building permits, average weekly manufacturing hours and new manufacturing orders, the Conference Board said. The only positive contributor was stock prices.

The leading index has declined at a 2.2% annual rate over the past six months and has declined 1.9% in the past twelve months, the report said.

The coincident index, which measures current economic activity, rose in May to 119.7, the board said. It has been increasing at a steady 2.5% annual rate since April 2003 and in the six months through May increased 1.1%.