NEW YORK – The Dow Jones Economic Sentiment Indicator notched up to 39.4 in March from 38.1 in February, suggesting a possible “beginning of the end” of the economic downturn, the company said of the findings.
Driving the modest upward trend was better-than-expected regional business news, along with small improvements in several national economic measures, according to Dow. The firm created its Economic Sentiment Indictor to predict the health of the U.S. economy by analyzing financial coverage of 15 major daily newspapers in the U.S.
Despite spinning the uptick as good news, Dow noted that although the increase was the strongest rise in the last five months, it still was well short of the monthly gains the ESI made for much of the first three quarters of 2009.
Still, the ESI's gain adds weight to the view that after a weak start to 2010 the economy may again be gaining strength, the firm said, noting that The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index registered a gain in March after falling unexpectedly in February.
