Data Suggests A Steady Economy

Improvement in a key gauge of future economic activity, combined with data on construction and manufacturing, suggests the economy is rolling ahead at a steady pace without promoting higher inflation.

“Moderate may be too slow a term to describe the current rate of growth in the economy,” said Peter Jaquette, a senior economist at the Wefa Group. “It’s not a boom, but it’s growing quite well.”

A pair of positive economic reports Monday came as the stock market’s 5 year rally is showing signs of wear.

Starting the day was a report from the Conference Board, a private research group, showing its Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.3 percent in April, following a revised increase of 0.3 percent in March and 1.3 percent in February.

Following that report, the government announced construction spending rose 1.4 percent in April, its second straight advance.