Leading Indicators Decline Again: The government said...

Leading Indicators Decline Again: The government said its chief economic forecasting gauge took a 0.7% nose dive in March, marking the first back-to-back declines in more than a year in a portent of progressive weakening in the economy. Last month’s drop in the index of leading economic indicators, which is designed to foretell economic activity six to nine months into the future, followed a 0.3% dip in February and was the biggest drop since a 0.8% decline last July. Another downward report in April would make three declines in a row, the traditional signal of a forthcoming recession.