OECD Leading Indicators Point to U.S. Slowdown

        By Paul Hannon
        Economic growth may be set to slow in the U.S., although the eurozone remains on course for a pickup, according to leading indicators released Tuesday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
        The Paris-based research body said its gauges of future economic activity--which are based on information available for March--also point to slowdowns in Canada, China, Brazil and Russia.
        The U.S. economy had a poor start to the year, growing just 0.2% on an annualized basis. Economists believe much of that weakness was down to bad weather, and that growth will return to its 2014 levels during the remainder of the year.
        The OECD's gauge of future activity suggests that may not be the case, with its leading indicator for the U.S. having fallen in each of the first three months of the year and now standing at 99.6, having been 101.1 in December.
        A reading of 100.0 indicates an economy will grow at its trend rate of growth, or the average over recent decades, although that trend rate varies between countries, with developing economies typically having higher rates than developed economies.
        "Signs of easing growth momentum are emerging in the United States, although these may reflect transitory factors," the OECD said.
        Last month, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for 2015 growth. It now expects the U.S. economy to grow by 3.1%, having projected an expansion of 3.6% in January.
        The OECD's leading indicators are designed to provide early signals of turning points between the expansion and slowdown of economic activity, and are based on a wide variety of data series that have a history of anticipating swings in future economic activity.
        The leading indicators suggest the global economy once again faces a patchy, and therefore relatively weak, recovery in 2015. They suggest that a revival in both France and Italy will support a continued acceleration in eurozone economic growth. But that could be more than offset by slowdowns in the U.S. and China, the world's largest and second-largest national economies, respectively.
        The OECD's composite leading indicator for its 34 members fell to 100.1 in March from 100.2 in February, while the leading indicator for the eurozone was unchanged at 100.7.
        The leading indicators pointed to steady growth for Japan, the U.K., Germany and India.
        Write to Paul Hannon at paul.hannon@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        May 12, 2015 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)

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