The Conference Board‘s Leading Economic Index increased for the third consecutive month in June.
The board said seven of the 10 indicators that make up the index increased in June, leading to a 0.7 percent increase overall for the month. That increase follows increases of 1 percent in April and 1.3 percent in May.
The interest rate spread was the largest positive contributor to the index’s gain. Building permits, stock prices and weekly unemployment claims also showed improvement.
The leading index advanced 2 percent during the first half of the year.
