The ECRI’s weekly leading index took a decisive turn for the worst this week as it now appears evident that the U.S. economy is slowing substantially more than many presume:
A measure of future U.S. economic growth fell to a 39-week low in the latest week, pointing to a slowdown in economic growth, a research group said on Friday.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index fell to 125.6 in the week ended May 21, down from a revised 127.2 the previous week, originally reported as 127.3.
That was the lowest level since Aug. 21, 2009, when the index stood at 125.3.
The index’s annualized growth rate tumbled to a 47-week low of 5.1 percent from 9.0 percent a week ago. That’s the worst level since June 26, 2009, when it stood at 4.6 percent.
“The downturn in WLI growth evident since early 2010 has recently intensified, so it should be no surprise when U.S. economic growth slows noticeably in the months ahead,” said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of ECRI.
Source: ECRI
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
Comments are closed.