Leading-Indicator Index Fell 0.5% in September
WASHINGTON -- The Conference Board's index of leading indicators fell 0.5% in September, another sign that the economy could be sliding closer to recession.</br></br>September's drop followed a revised 0.1% decline in August, a smaller drop than the 0.3% decline initially reported. That followed three monthly increases, which appeared to signal the economy might have stopped slowing.</br></br>"It looked like things were bottoming out and starting to look a little bit bitter," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "Obviously, September has changed that."</br></br>The drop in the leading index in September is the largest one-month decline since January 1996, said Ken Goldstein, economist at the Conference Board. "Without the aggressive expansionary policy being adopted by the Federal Reserve, this drop would have been much deeper," he said.</br></br>Six out of the 10 indicators fell in September. The largest negative contributors to the index were stock prices and initial claims for unemployment insurance. The most significant positive contributors were money supply and interest rate spreads.