“The index of U.S. leading economic indicators rose at a slower pace in October as businesses held back on investment in anticipation of domestic fiscal policy changes set to take effect in January.
The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months increased 0.2 percent after a revised 0.5 percent gain in September that was lower than initially reported, the New York-based group said Wednesday. Economists projected the October gauge would climb 0.1 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
The fiscal cliff of $607 billion in federal spending cuts and tax increases has been a hurdle for companies even as consumer sentiment has supported the household purchases that account for about 70 percent of the economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that a budget deal could help make the coming year “a very good one” for the economy.
“We’re moving in the right direction — it’s just I think ‘subdued’ is still an accurate assessment of how the economy’s performing,” Kevin Cummins, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “We have to get past the fiscal cliff, and there are things like Europe still out there that potentially are headwinds to the economy.”
Fiscal Cliff”
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