NEW YORK (Reuters) - A measure of future U.S. economic growth and its annualized growth rate both ticked up in the latest week, but they still suggest the recession will intensify in the near future, a research group said on Friday.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index rose in the week ending November 28 to 109.9 from 106.9 in the previous week, revised from 106.8.
The index's annualized growth rate was also less negative at minus 28.5 percent from last week's negative 29.2 percent.
"Despite the first uptick in WLI growth since mid-September, it remains in a steep cyclical downtrend, suggesting that the recession will deepen further in the coming months," said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at ECRI.
Stronger stock prices and housing helped the weekly index edge higher but lower commodity prices partly offset the gain, Achuthan said.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish)
