Forex Roundup - US Leading Indicators decline in Feb. Philly Fed better than expected. Jobless claims rise.

March 20, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Forex Roundup - US Leading Indicators decline in Feb. Philly Fed better but still negative. Jobless claims rise.

The U.S. Leading Indicators Index published by the Conference Board today showed a decline in the month of February. The Leading Indicator Index, which measures future economic activity, registered a 0.3 percent decline in February following a decline of 0.1 percent in January. February marked the fifth consecutive month of decline which had last happened in 2001. Building permits, unemployment, consumer expectations and stock prices were all negative sectors impacting the leading index. Real money supply, interest rate spread and manufacturing new orders helped positively contribute to the leading index. The coincident index, which is viewed as a measure of the current economic activity, was unchanged in February while the lagging index increased by 0.2 in February.

Philly Manufacturing Business Survey.

The Philadelphia Manufacturing Business Index released today by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank showed that its survey increased in March to beat market forecasts but was still in negative territory. The Philly general business diffusion index increased to -17.4 in March after February's score of -24 and beat market expectations of a -18.0 score. A negative score is considered a contraction in that business sector. The index has now been in negative territory for four consecutive months with February scoring the lowest index reading since 2001. Demand for new orders was -9.3 for March, an improvement over -10.9 in February. The current shipments index increased from -12.2 to -6.3, unfilled orders declined from -10.9 to -18.7, delivery times fell from -7.6 to -10.3 and the inventories index fell a touch from -13.0 to -13.5. Current employment and the average employee workweek also saw decreased index readings for March. The future outlook of manufacturing growth rebounded in March as the general activity index outlook on 6 months from now registered a -0.5 score after a dismal -16.9 reading in February. February's negative future outlook level was the lowest level since 1990 and the first negative score since January 2001.

US Jobless Claims rise.

U.S. new jobless claims increased for the week ending March 15th by 22,000 people to a seasonally adjusted total of 378,000 from a revised total of 356,000 claims the week before according to data released today by the U.S. Labor Department. A four week moving average of unemployment claims showed an increase of 6,000 workers to a rate of 365,250. Workers continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending March 8th increased by 32,000 to 2,865,000, up from the week before which saw 2,833,000. A four week moving average of continuing claims increased 19,750 from last week to 2,832,250. Last week's moving average registered 2,812,500.

Tags: us leading indicators, jobless claims, unemployment, philadelphia fed, manufacturing

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