Free Republic

U.S. economic activity cools in August-Chicago Fed Thursday September 25, 10:05 am ET NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - A gauge of national economic performance slipped in August to reflect below-trend growth, mostly due to the worsening labor market and a pull-back in industrial output, the Federal Reserve Bank (News - Websites) of Chicago said on Thursday. The Chicago Fed's National Activity Index fell to -0.28 from an upwardly revised 0.05 in July. Any negative reading suggests economic growth running below trend, which most economists peg around 3.5 percent for gross domestic product. The slip in the index comes even...

The Conference Board's U.S. Leading Index Points to a Better Economy This Fall Thursday August 21, 10:00 am ET NEW YORK, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board announced today that the U.S. Leading Economic Index increased 0.4 percent, the Coincident Index increased 0.1 percent, and the Lagging Index increased 0.1 percent in July. The Coincident Index continued to rise very modestly in July. But the Leading Economic Index rose for the fourth straight month, after a weak first quarter of the year. The chief concern last spring was a lack of business confidence and investment. This was related to...