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Conference Board's Leading Index Improves in May
NEW YORK -- The Conference Board reported that the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.5% in May, following a 0.1% rise in April, and a 0.8% gain in March."The data reflect a robust economic environment this spring and point to more of the same this summer," said Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein. "There are concerns about the high cost of gasoline, milk and a possible rise in short-term interest rates, but almost 1 million new jobs opened up in the last three months. Investment, inventory and even export growth continue to improve. This confluence of economic strengths is a recipe for continued job gains, and possibly a little more inflation."Eight of the 10 indicators that make up the leading index increased in May. The positive contributors -- beginning with the largest positive contributor -- were average weekly manufacturing hours, real money supply, interest rate spread, vendor performance, building permits, manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted), and manufacturers' new orders for non defense capital goods. The negative contributors -- beginning with the largest negative contributor -- were index of consumer expectations and stock prices.Visit the Conference Board at www.conference-board.org Visit Global Indicators at www.globalindicators.org"