The Conference Board’s US Leading Economic Index rose 0.4% in August from July to a reading of 111.2 (2016 = 100), following a 0.7% increase in July and a 0.5% increase in June.

“The leading indicators are consistent with a solid growth scenario in the second half of 2018 and at this stage of a maturing business cycle in the US, it doesn’t get much better than this,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, director of business cycles and growth research at The Conference Board. 

“The US [Leading Economic Index's] growth trend has moderated since the start of the year,” Ozyildirim said. “Industrial companies that are more sensitive to the business cycle should be on the lookout for a possible moderation in economic growth in 2019. The strengths among the [Leading Economic Index's] components were very widespread, further supporting an outlook of above 3.0% growth for the remainder of 2018.”