A US economic index which aims to indicate future trends has shown another fall in March. The Conference Board, a business research firm, said its index of leading economic indicators declined 0.3% in March, following a 0.2% fall in February.
The index 'remains on a general downtrend that began in July 2007, with widespread weaknesses among its components,' the Conference Board said. But it added that the rate of decline had moderated this year.
The report 'suggests that the economic recession that started in December 2007 will continue in the near term, but that the contraction in activity could become less severe in upcoming months,' the group said.
Ken Goldstein, economist at the Conference Board, said there had been some intermittent signs of improvement in the economy in April, but the leading economic index and most of its components were still pointing down.
Other indices in the survey were also weaker. The index of current conditions fell 0.4% in March after a 0.6% drop in February. The lagging index declined 0.4%, following a 0.3% fall in February.
