The Conference Board reports today that the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators declined 0.2 percent in August, marking the third consecutive month of decline.

The index declined 0.1 percent in July and 0.2 percent in June.

Three of the four indicators that make up the coincident index increased in August. The largest contributor to the index was personal income less transfer payments, followed by manufacturing and trade sales, and employees on nonagricultural payrolls.

With the increase in August, the coincident index now stands at 115.0 (1996=100). Based on revised data, this index held steady in July and increased 0.3 percent in June. During the six-month period through August, the coincident index increased 0.7 percent.

The lagging index decreased 0.1 percent to 100.7 (1996=100) in August. Five of the seven components of the lagging index increased in August.

The positive contributors to the index were average duration of unemployment, change in CPI for services, ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income, change in labor cost per unit of output, and ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales.

The only negative contributor to the index was commercial and industrial loans outstanding.