Figures released this afternoon gave another indication that the US economy is cooling.
The Conference Board's forward-looking index of leading economic indicators, a measure of expected activity in the coming months, fell 0.1% in April. The report came as a surprise to analysts, who had expected a 0.1% rise.
The business research group meanwhile revised up its index for March to show a 0.4% rise compared with the previous 0.1%.
'The economy is cooling off from the torrid pace of the first quarter,' said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board. 'This latest decline, combined with some earlier softening, suggests growth in the third quarter may be slower,' the economist added.
He said the high prices of oil and rising interest rates meant the US economy was not likely to pick up steam. Other figures in the survey were higher. The coincident index of current conditions rose 0.2%.
