NEW YORK--The Conference Board recently announced that the U.S. leading index increased by 0.6%, the coincident index held steady, and the lagging index decreased by 0.2% in January.
The leading index increased 2.2% from July 2001 to January 2002. The six-month diffusion index, which measures the number of components that are rising, has increased above 50% for the first time in 21 months.