According to PANews, data released by research firm The Conference Board on Tuesday showed that major U.S. economic indicators still point to economic slowdown, but no longer indicate a recession. This is a positive signal for risky assets including cryptocurrencies.
The organization's leading economic indicator (LEI) fell 0.6% to 100.4 in July after falling 0.2% in June. The indicator peaked in the second quarter of 2022 and has been declining since then, according to data source MacroMicro. The LEI includes several forward-looking indicators, such as average weekly hours worked in manufacturing, average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, the ISM new orders index, stock prices, and the leading credit index. It helps identify changes in economic trends and turning points in financial markets and is considered one of the most reliable signals of a recession, defined as consecutive quarters of contraction in growth. The continued decline in the leading index suggests that the economy is about to face headwinds. However, the annualized six-month rate of change in the leading index narrowed to -2.1% in July from -3.1% in June, suggesting that the risk of a recession is waning.
