Economic recovery in the US should pick up steam, according to The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for the US. The measure rose 0.2% in February to a level of 110.5.
“The US [Leading Economic Index] continued rising in February, suggesting economic growth should continue well into this year,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economic research at The Conference Board. “Indeed, the acceleration of the vaccination campaign and a new round of large fiscal supports are not yet fully reflected in the [Leading Economic Index]. With those developments, The Conference Board now expects the pace of growth to improve even further this year, with the US economy expanding by 5.5% in 2021.”
Ozyildirim noted some leading indicators showed signs of weakness amid impacts from bad weather and supply chain disruptions in February, but the effects may prove transitory.
In January, the index had risen by 0.5%; December’s increase was 0.4%.