May 20, 2009

For the first time in 18 months, strengths among the components used to establish the Leading Economic Index exceeded the weaknesses, according to a report from The Conference Board. At the same time, the Coincident Economic Index and the Lagging Economic Index each fell slightly.
 
Seven of the ten indicators used for the LEI in the U.S. increased in April, led by increases in stock prices and interest rate spread. The LEI rose 1% to 99.0 in April, the first increase in seven months. For the six months ending in April, the index has fallen 0.6%.
 
The Conference Board LEI for the U.S. has been generally falling since the middle of 2007, but the pace of its decline has slowed substantially in recent months. With this month’s sharp and widespread increase, the …

Canadian wholesale sales in current dollars fell 0.6% to $40.5 billion in March. Declining sales in the building materials and machinery and electronic equipment sectors were important factors contributing to this decrease. In terms of the volume of sales, wholesale sales were down 1.3%.
 
Canadian wholesalers sell to both the domestic and international markets, and are active importers and exporters. The larger decline in the constant dollar sales compared with the current dollar sales in March reflects higher prices paid by wholesalers for imported goods. This was due in part to the depreciation of the Canadian dollar versus the US dollar in March.
 
In March, four out of seven sectors, accounting for two-thirds of total wholesale sales, posted …