Higher jobless claims and lower stock prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina caused a gauge of the U.S. economy to slip in the latest week, a report said on Friday.
Higher interest rates also contributed to the decline of the Economic Cycle Research Institute’s weekly leading index. ECRI, an independent forecasting group, said its weekly leading index slipped to 134.3 in the week ended Sept. 16 from a downwardly revised 134.7 in the prior week.
