Economic indicators continue to slide

A private research group’s measure of the economy’s health fell again in November and its six-month rate of decline hit the worst level since 1991.

The New York-based Conference Board on Thursday said its index of the nation’s leading economic indicators fell for the second straight month, dropping 0.4% in November.

That was slightly better than the 0.5% decline economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected.

The index is designed to forecast economic activity in the next three to six months based on 10 components, including stock prices, building permits and initial claims for unemployment benefits.

Based on revised numbers, the index has decreased 2.8% in the six months through November, the worst drop since the recession of 1991.

Drops in building permits and stock prices, and increases in unemployment claims led the index lower.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for jobless benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 last week from an upwardly revised figure of 575,000 the previous week.

Still, the four-week moving average, which smooths out fluctuations, increased slightly to 543,750 claims, the highest since December 1982. The labor force has grown by about half since then.

Without increases to the money supply from federal bailouts, the leading indicators’ reading would have been far worse. The recession that officially began in December 2007 is continuing to ravage businesses in almost every sector.