Friday, September 24, 2010

Fresh Indicators

The index of leading economic indicators was up for August, even more than the rise predicted by the economists polled monthly by various organizations. Still, the number rose by only 0.3 percent, portending a continuing but weak recovery.

In all, seven of the ten indicators were positive in August. They were:

* The interest rate spread
* The real money supply
* Average weekly manufacturing hours
* Building permits
* Stock prices
* Index of consumer expectations
* New orders for capital nondefense goods

The indicators that were negative:

* Unemployment
* Index of supplier deliveries
* New orders for consumer goods and materials

Obviously, the big one there is unemployment. Until that gets moving in the right direction, the recovery will continue to be sluggish.

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