The index of US leading indicators rose in January for the seventh straight month, signalling the expansion will extend into this year.
The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.1 per cent after rising 0.8 per cent in December, the New York-based group said today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was a 0.2 per cent gain.
Rising consumer spending, business investment and exports are ensuring the economy continues to grow even as housing remains depressed. Today’s report is in line with the view of Federal Reserve policy makers, according to minutes of their meeting released yesterday, that the recovery is on a “firmer footing” while the labour market was improving ‘gradually’.
Estimates of 56 economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from a drop of 0.7 per cent to a gain of 0.7 per cent.
