Iowa Leading Indicators Index rises in May

The Iowa Leading Indicators Index rose in May to 106.4 after holding steady for four consecutive months at 106.1.

The index,  compiled by the Iowa Department of Revenue, primarily looks at indicators in the agricultural, financial and manufacturing sectors, including agricultural futures price index, Iowa stock market index, building permits, yield spreads, unemployment claims, diesel fuel consumption, new orders index and average weekly manufacturing hours.

The Iowa stock market index and diesel fuel consumption contributed positively to the index - 28 out of the 34 stocks included in the Iowa stock market index had positive gains in May and Iowa stock prices rose 6.9 percent on average.

The 12-month moving average of diesel fuel consumption increased, implying an increase in the movement of goods within and across the state.

The two largest negative contributors were building permits and the agricultural futures profits index. Permits in May were higher than in April, but were down 3.6 percent from last May.

The agricultural futures profits index was a negative contributor for the sixteenth consecutive month, with expected corn profits increasing but expected profits for soybeans decreasing.

Unemployment insurance claims were the only other negative contributor. Unemployment insurance claims slightly increased in May and were 1.7 percent above the number of claims made in May 2012.

The Iowa Department of Revenue releases the index each month to provide a signal about the direction of the economy by combining the monthly changes in each of the eight components.