United States - Weekly Leading Index
United States: Weekly Leading Index
| Mnemonic | ECRILEADW.IUSA | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | 1992 = 100 | |
| Friday Weekly | 0.15 % | |
| Data | 29 Jul 2022 | 143.76 |
| 22 Jul 2022 | 143.97 | |
Series Information
| Source | Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) |
| Release | ECRI Weekly Leading Index |
| Frequency | Weekly Friday |
| Start Date | 1/5/1967 |
| End Date | 7/28/2022 |
United States: Business
| Reference | Last | Previous | Units | Frequency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchasing Managers index | May 2026 | 54 | 52.7 | Diffusion index, SA | Monthly |
| Business Confidence | Apr 2026 | 99.97 | 99.91 | Index long term avg=100, SA | Monthly |
| Capacity Utilization | Apr 2026 | 76.12 | 75.67 | %, SA | Monthly |
| Industrial Production | Apr 2026 | 102.5 | 101.81 | Index 2017=100, SA | Monthly |
| Change in Inventories | 2026 Q1 | -40,234 | -46,150 | Mil. USD, SAAR | Quarterly |
| Real Change in Inventories | 2026 Q1 | -25,660 | -15,636 | Mil. Ch. 2017 USD, SAAR | Quarterly |
Release Information
The Weekly Leading Index (WLI) is a high-frequency leading index of U.S. economic growth, available very promptly to the general public. It directly addresses concerns about the freshness of data that forecasters have with existing leading indicators, including the well-known monthly Index of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI), originally developed by ECRI’s founder, Geoffrey H. Moore, for the U.S. Commerce Department.
The WLI resolves these issues by being available promptly and frequently: each Friday morning the WLI is updated with data through the previous week. The WLI represents the latest in a long series of advances made since the introduction of the original leading index in the 1960s.
Key advantages include:
Frequency – the WLI is available every week, rather than monthly, allowing for closer monitoring of the U.S. economic cycle.
Promptness – the WLI is extremely prompt. Each Friday morning the WLI is updated through the previous week, i.e., there is less than a one-week publication lag.
Composite index method – an improved method of composite index construction is used (Geoffrey Moore and Julius Shiskin developed the original LEI method). The result is a more clearly cyclical index with increased sensitivity at economic cycle turning points.
Revisions – only one component (money supply) out of seven is subject to significant revision.
Leads – before recessions, the WLI turns down before other leading indexes. Given its prompt availability, its effective lead is even longer. In fact, it is the only publicly available leading index with a real-time record of predicting the last three recessions. It has a median lead of ten months at business cycle peaks and three months at business cycle troughs, and has the lowest variability of leads at business cycle peaks and troughs
The growth rate for the weekly leading index is calculated and provided to us by the ECRI. The growth rate is proprietary and it is not made evident the calculation (or moving average) behind the growth rate.