NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
A gauge meant to forecast the economy's direction in the next several months rose at a solid clip in May, a research group said Thursday.
The Conference Board said its index of leading indictors rose 0.5 percent to 116.5 last month after rising in each of the last two months.
Economists on average had forecast an increase of 0.4 percent for May, according to a survey by Briefing.com.
Eight of the ten indicators that make up the leading index increased in May, the business research group said.
The biggest positive contributors were increases in weekly manufacturing hours and real money supply.
The negative factors were consumer expectations and stock prices.
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