Leading Economic Indicators Rise 0.3% in March

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he Conference Board said Monday its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3% in March after no change the month before.

The LEI is closely watched by trucking companies because it forecasts business activity for the next three to six months. Economists had projected a 0.3% increase in the leading index, Bloomberg reported.

Prior to February, the index had risen 10 straight months, the most since an 11-month stretch ended in July 1983.

The board's index of coincident indicators, a gauge of current economic activity, rose 0.2% in March after a 0.3% increase the previous month. The index tracks payrolls, incomes, sales and production.

However, the index of lagging indicators fell 0.1% last month, matching the previous month's drop.

The board said six of the 10 indicators it uses to derive the index contributed to the rise, and four made negative contributions.

A jump in building permits, delays in supplier deliveries, new orders for consumer goods and a rise in consumer expectations, along with the increase in money supply and decline in jobless claims, accounted for the increase.

A narrowing of the spread in the yield between the Treasury Department's 10-year note and the overnight bank lending rate, a drop in manufacturing hours, lower stock prices and a decrease in orders for capital goods restrained the rise.

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