A key barometer of the US economic outlook dropped for the second month in a row in July, raising fears for the recovery there, the Conference Board said today.
The Conference Board's composite index of leading economic indicators slipped 0.4% in July as the economy took a pounding from investors fleeing the scandal-tainted stock market. The index had eased 0.2% in June.
'The second consecutive decline in the leading economic indicators raises fears about the current recovery,' the Conference Board, a private economic research group, said.
'Volatile financial markets, corporate scandals and sagging consumer expectations are trouble spots,' it added. 'But latest evidence shows no significant weakening in the consumer markets, with home and car buying continuing to be strong.'
The leading index - collated from data pointing to economic activity in the months ahead - was dragged down by stock prices, weekly manufacturing hours, consumer expectations, the interest rate spread, retail sales and building permits.
Those sectors were offset by improvements in money supply, new orders for civilian capital goods, a decline in the number of new weekly claims for unemployment benefits and a rise in new orders for consumer goods.
The Conference Board's coincident index, which measures the current economy, rose 0.1% in July, the fifth consecutive increase. The lagging index of past activity also advanced 0.1%.
