Leading indicators climb slightly more than expected in July

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI)for theU.S. increased by 0.9 percent in July to 116.0 (2016 = 100), following a 0.5 percent increase in June and a 1.2 percent increase in May.

“The U.S. LEI registered another large gain in July, with all components contributing positively,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director of Economic Research at The Conference Board. “The Leading Index’s overall upward trend, which started with the end of the pandemic-induced recession in April 2020, is consistent with strong economic growth in the second half of the year. While the Delta variant and/or rising inflation fears could create headwinds for the US economy in the near term, we expect real GDP growth for 2021 to reach 6.0 percent year-over-year, before easing to a still robust 4.0 percent growth rate for 2022.”

The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for the U.S. increased by 0.6 percent in July to 105.6 (2016 = 100), following a 0.4 percent increase in June and a 0.1 percent increase in May.

The Conference Board Lagging Economic Index® (LAG) for the U.S. increased by 0.6 percent in May to 106.5 (2016 = 100), after being unchanged in June and increasing 0.8 percent in May.