A private gauge of the US economy's direction in the next three to six months rose in February, according to data issued Thursday.
The Conference Board, a New York-based think tank, said that its
index of leading economic indicators rose 0.5 per cent to 94.8, based
on a 2004 setting at 100.
It was the third straight monthly rise in a row, after the index
rose a revised 0.5 per cent in January and 0.4 per cent in December.
"The economy continues to expand slowly, and may be developing
some resilience against headwinds from, for example, federal spending
cuts," said Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the board.
He said "resilience" was emerging in rising new home construction
and the improving labour market.
But Ken Goldstein, another economist at the board, warned that
Thursday's report does not capture "the recent effects of
sequestration" - a reference to the forced across-the-board federal
spending cuts that went into effect on March 1 as a result of impasse
in Congress.
