OECD Indicators Point to Economic Growth

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said today that the world’s developed countries are showing signs of economic growth, led by the US and Japan. The OECD’s index of composite leading indicators for its members rose to 100.5 in February from 100.3 in January. That’s four consecutive months of improvement in the index.

The US index rose 0.5% year-over-year and 0.3% sequentially, from 101.0 in January to 101.3 in February, and Japan’s index rose 0.3% year-over-year and 0.3% sequentially from 100.8 to 101.1. The gains are small, but the direction is encouraging.

That’s not the case in the Eurozone, where the sequential reading of 99.6 was flat and the year-over-year index fell -1.9%, led by a decline of -3.1% in Germany.

The OECD sees potential turning points in the Eurozone, Germany, the UK, Brazil, and India. The organization noted regained positive momentum in the US, Japan, and China, the world’s three largest economies. Signs of regained positive momentum were also noted in Russia.

The report is available here.