Ind. economic index sees five-month improvement

FROM IDS REPORTS

The Indiana economy seems to be taking a turn for the better.

According to a report released by the Indiana Business Research Center of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, the Leading Index for Indiana has risen for the past five months.

The LII is a tool developed by the IBRC to predict and signal changes in the direction of the Indiana economy months before economic change occurs.

The LII rose to an index of 97.4 in January — the highest it has been since fall 2008.

January auto sales contributed to the increase in the LII, according to the report.

Auto sales in Indiana were 17 percent higher than last year. CNW Research, an auto industry research center based in Bandon, Ore., predicts Indiana retail auto sales to reach 920,000 units by the end of February 2011.

In addition to auto sales, manufacturing may become important to Indiana’s economic growth, according to the report.

“Manufacturing is the big story this month,” Tim Slaper, director of economic analysis at the IBRC, said in a press release. “The Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose an impressive 2.3 points in February, showing that the manufacturing industry is expanding at an increasing rate.”

—Amanda Jacobson