BLOOMINGTON — After slumping this spring, the Leading Index for Indiana showed that the state's economy may be gaining traction, moving up 0.6 points to 101.6 in August.

All the LII's components are pointing up, some strongly. Home builders are more optimistic. Purchasing executives are noting an expansion in the manufacturing sector. Unfilled orders in the auto sector are trending up.

“One often opines in the LII report that the monthly data have been mixed. That is still true, but the balance appears to be slightly more positive,” said Timothy Slaper, director of economic analysis at the Indiana Business Research Center in Indiana University‘s Kelley School of Business. The IBRC produces the monthly index.

The LII was developed for Hoosier businesses and governments to provide a signal for changes in the general direction of the Indiana economy. In contrast to The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index and other indexes that are national in scope, the LII uses national level data for key sectors that are important to the Indiana economy. The reason the LII uses national level data is because national data are timelier than state-level data.