The growth rate for the Economic Cycle Research Institute's weekly leading index measuring the U.S. economy contracted 24.1% in the week ended Feb. 27; it had also contracted 24.1% in the prior period. The index level is now 105.2.

"The [weekly leading index] has now slipped to another cycle low, suggesting that the end of this recession has yet to start taking shape," said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of the institute.

The growth rate is derived from a four-week moving average of the level and compared against the previous year's average.