Leading indicator
Also called: lagging indicator, coincident indicator, economic indicators
An economic measure that tends to change direction before the wider economy does, such as business survey orders, credit growth or share prices.
Coincident indicators, such as industrial production, move with the economy; lagging indicators, such as unemployment and loan defaults, move after it. Leading indicators give early warnings but also false alarms, so several read together over several months are more useful than any one.
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