Economics and weather have a lot in common. Knowing what conditions will be like in the future weeks or months is not easy. One

Economics and weather have a lot in common. Knowing what conditions will be like in the future weeks or months is not easy. One thing that helps economists(36)predict the future is the index of leading economic indicators. An index is a way to measure changes in a group of numbers over time. In(37)financial markets, for example, an index of stocks will rise or fall with changes in the wider market. The changes measured by an index can be(38)represented with a single percentage.
    The leading economic indicators are really ten indexes. Four deal with(39)manufacturing activity. One deals with unemployment(40)claims. Another measures people’s(41)expectations of the economy. Still others(42)involve information like the money supply and interest rates. The index of leading indicators is just one of the tools used to measure the business cycle. Business cycles are the(43)normal changes that happen in economic growth over time.
    A measure called the coincident index provides information about current conditions.(44)Employment rates are an important part of it, which helps confirm economic changes that currently appear to be taking place.
    The Conference Board publishes economic indicators for the United States. The Conference Board is a non-profit organization based in New York.(45)It brings together business leaders to learn new ideas from one another, and it has member companies around the world. The Conference Board also does economic research.(46)Its work helps show business and government leaders what conditions might be a-head, but this group did not always show the index of leading economic indicators.