statement of earnings noun [C]. âº ACCOUNTING, FINANCE an âofficial âdocument that is âpart of a company's âfinancial âresults and gives details of its âprofit or âloss for a particular âperiod: During the âboom âyears, âcompanies put out exaggerated âstatements of âearnings.
Lagging indicators report on data that comes from past activity. The difference between leading and lagging indicators is the latter can indicate whether the nationâs economy is actually growing or contracting. A few examples of leading indicators may be bond yields or housing starts. Bonds are typically safe investments with little inherent risk.
Leading indicators are variables that tend to change before the economy as whole, which are commonly used in business cycle forecasting. Examples of leading indicators include the federal funds rate, interest rates, hours worked, unemployment claims, building permits for new homes and crude oil prices.