3 month Leading Indicators drop exposes Bush/Fed lies about economy

Leading Indicators in U.S. Fall 0.3 Percent in Third Straight Monthly Drop


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/economy/economies.html

Leading Indicators in U.S. Fall 0.3 Percent in Third Straight Monthly Drop

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) --<snip>The report by the New York-based Conference Board may undermine President George W. Bush's message that the economy is improving, less than two months before he seeks re-election. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other policy makers two days ago said the economy is ``regaining some traction'' after slowing in the second quarter. <snip>

The 0.3 percent decline in the gauge of how the world's largest economy will perform over the next three to six months matches the July drop and follows a 0.1 percent decline in June. Oil prices reached a record in August and job growth slowed from earlier this year, restraining incomes, consumer confidence and the appetite to spend. First-time jobless claims rose last week for the fourth time in five weeks, the Labor Department said. <snip>

Average hourly wages for production and non-supervisory workers, which account for about 80 percent of the workforce, were up 2.3 percent for the year ended in August, the Labor Department reported. Consumer prices rose 2.7 percent in the same period. <snip>

Six of the 10 indicators that the Conference Board tracks to derive the index contributed to the decline in August: the yield curve, building permits, stock prices, consumer expectations, supplier deliveries and orders for business equipment. Factory hours were unchanged. Initial jobless claims, orders for consumer goods and money supply made positive contributions.<snip>

``This index is trending downward and suggesting slower growth and that means it will be harder for the average American to find a new job,'' said Kevin Logan, senior market economist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in New York. ``People who are currently working may very well stay employed, but new jobs will be scarce.''

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&nc...

US economic barometer down 0.3 percent in third straight decline

Thu Sep 23,11:21 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - <snip>The research firm's index of leading economic indicators, forecasting activity in the coming months, dipped to 115.7, a reading weaker than expected on Wall Street.

"The leading indicators continue to soften," said Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein. "There is concern about weak consumption and the pace of wage and salary increases."

Both consumers and businesses are showing caution, the economist said. <snip>

The Conference Board said that the declines in the leading index are not deep enough to signal an end to the upward trend since March 2003. But it suggests slower growth ahead

"The slower recent growth rate of the leading index is consistent with real GDP (gross domestic product) continuing to increase, but at or slightly below its long-term trend," the board said. <snip>


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=568&nci...

U.S. Economic Gauge Signals Weakness

Thu Sep 23, 1:07 PM ET
By Glenn Somerville

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key gauge of future economic activity weakened for a third straight month in August as costlier oil spread worry among consumers and businesses, a report from a business research group showed on Thursday . <snip>

Its steady decline contrasts with a view expressed on Tuesday by Federal Reserve (news - web sites) policymakers, who voted to raise U.S. interest rates for a third time in three months, that economic output has "regained some traction" since summer.

"We doubt this signals an imminent further sharp downturn in growth but the data make uncomfortable viewing and are not consistent with the Fed's view that the economy is regaining traction," said economist Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics Ltd. in Valhalla, N.Y. <snip>

Dimson doesn't have ANY good economic news he can run on. He's ruined this country, from its economy to safety to environment to citizen privacy.