One practical use an economic indicator of this sort has is as a contrary indicator.
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Equally important, inflation is not the only economic indicator that looked strong in March.
Some analysts suggest Chinese trade data are distorted by reporting errors and unreliable as an economic indicator.
Not surprisingly, vehicle sales have now become a key economic indicator and a number to watch closely.
Likewise, the leading economic indicator series that I mentioned earlier was actually pointing to recession early in 2008.
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The slope of the yield curve, singularly, is a long-time, powerful leading economic indicator the steeper the more positive.
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Though this is just one economic indicator, in the past these charts have often given us some good insight.
Employment has been the key economic indicator to watch in recent months, and that has been steadily making progress.
Some might even cite the modest GDP growth as a positive economic indicator.
But if online behavior data doesn't function as a perfect economic indicator, it does make a fascinating mirror for the human psyche.
Not every economic indicator would be fantastic every time it came out.
But it would be an unwise investor or economist who placed too much reliance on figures for one economic indicator for one month.
Over the years the Conference Board has used several rules of thumb to decide whether its leading economic indicator is signalling a recession.
And we also know that the Fed relies on the lagging economic indicator of unemployment, rather than forward-looking price signals, to set policy.
After several reports showing positive month-over-month GDP growth, today was disappointing as that all important economic indicator reading came in at a flat 0.0%.
This is one advantage over the Conference Board's leading economic indicator, which conceals useful information by combining longer- and shorter-term indicators in a single measure.
Wal-Mart, which many consider to be an economic indicator in and of itself, reported decent results, but domestic growth was muted suggesting a poor economic environment.
Incidentally, my economic indicator cycles predicted that as well.
At the same time, one of the most important sub-components of the leading economic indicator series is the slope of the yield curve which, by itself, is a very good indicator.
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Some modestly upbeat EU data on consumer and business confidence was released Wednesday as the Economic Sentiment Indicator rose to 91.1 in February versus 89.5 in January, and reaching the highest level since last May.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2% after Moody's sovereign downgrades late Monday contrasted with positive economic data from Germany, where the ZEW economic sentiment indicator for February rose to its first positive reading since May 2011.
The ZEW economic-sentiment indicator dropped more than expected in April, helping send Germany's DAX index down 0.4%.
The gain came even though the German ZEW economic-sentiment indicator dropped to its lowest reading since December.
The economic-sentiment indicator for February rose sharply to 5.4 points from -21.6 in January, the first positive reading since May 2011 and much better than consensus expectations.
With consumer spending accounting for some 70% of all economic activity, experts pay special attention this indicator to gauge broader economic health.
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The point seems obvious, but can be missed: Inflation is just one indicator of economic health.
Imports, another crucial indicator of economic activity, were also down for the first two months of the second quarter.
Rather bizarrely, imports detract from GDP, even though total trade is a better indicator of economic health.
Manufacturing activity, a major indicator of economic vitality and recovery, peaked in February, and has eased significantly ever since.
Yet GDP is not the most reliable indicator of economic activity in China.
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