Leading Indicators Up Ninth Straight Month

New York,, NY, April 22, 2011 -- The Conference Board said that its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.4% in March.

The index has increased for nine consecutive months.

Growing demand for U.S. manufactured goods and a rebound in requests for building permits helped drive March's increase.

Six of the index's 10 components rose. The index rose 1.05 in February, revised higher from the initial estimate of 0.8%.

One of the components of the index, a consumer confidence survey, fell to a two-year low last month, mostly on inflation concerns.