Economic prospects improved again in the OECD's latest monthly "early warning" indicator, but the 30-member group of industrial powers said signals persisted of weakening in the United States and the euro zone. The OECD said on Friday its March leading indicator for the OECD zone as a whole rose to 124.0 from an upwardly revised 123.5. The previous figure for February was 123.2. "Continued expansion lies ahead in the OECD area...however March data signal slightly weakening performance in the United States and the euro area but an improvement in Japan and Italy," the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.
Another OECD index called the six-month rate of change dipped for the third straight month. This index also dipped in the United States, the 12-nation euro zone, Germany and Britain. The headline index rose in all of the G7 powers except Canada, where it fell slightly, and Britain, where it was flat. The G7 includes the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Britain. The OECD's "early warning" indicator brings together information from a number of key short-term economic indicators and is designed to provide early signals of peaks and troughs in activity.///