ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward remains in positive territory for the 30th week – after spending the previous 35 consecutive weeks in negative territory. This is compared to RecessionAlerts similar weekly leading index. Also ECRI released their lagging and coincident indices this past week.
Analyst Opinion of the trends of the weekly leading indices
Both ECRI’s and RecessionAlerts indicies are indicating moderate growth six months from today. However, both indices’ trend lines are plateauing which indicates economic growth six months from today may not be much better than it is today.
Current ECRI WLI Level and Growth Index:
Here is this week’s update on ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index (note – a positive number indicates growth):
U.S. WLI Edges Up
The U.S. Weekly Leading Index (WLI) edges up to 139.6 from 139.5. The growth rate ticks down to 8.5% from 8.6%.
To put the economy in perspective please see links below:
– read Lakshman Achuthan’s interview on The Telegraph “Fed Risks Lehman Blunder Repeat as US Recession Storm Gathers“.
– read ECRI’s ““Early” and “Late” Cycle Verdicts are Baseless“.
– watch Lakshman Achuthan’s interview on Reuters.
For a closer look at recent moves in the U.S. Weekly Leading Index, see the chart below:
Comparison to RecessionAlert Weekly Indicator
RecessionAlert also produces a weekly foreward indicator using different pulse points tha ECRI’s WLI. Here is a graph from dshort.com which compares the two indices. Both indices are showing nearly the same rate of growth.
Coincident Index:
ECRI produces a monthly coincident index – a positive number shows economic expansion. The September index value (issued in October) shows a small decline in the rate of economic growth.
z ecri_coin.png
ECRI produces a monthly inflation index – a positive number shows increasing inflation pressure.
U.S. Future Inflation Gauge:
z ecri_infl.PNG
U.S. Future Inflation Gauge Rises
U.S. inflationary pressures were up in September, as the U.S. future inflation gauge gained to 113.1 from an upwardly revised 112.7 reading in July, first reported as 112.6, according to data released Friday morning by the Economic Cycle Research Institute.
“The USFIG increased in September to a 99-month high,” ECRI Chief Operations Officer Lakshman Achuthan said in a release. “Thus, underlying inflation pressures continue to mount.”
ECRI produces a monthly Lagging index. The Septembers economy’s rate of growth (released in October) showed the rate of growth significantly declined.
U.S. Lagging Index:
z ecri_lag.PNG
source: ECRI
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