The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators for Germany fell four-tenths of percentage point in March, the latest month for which data are available. The index now stands at 102.6 (1990=100).
The index decline one-tenth percent in February and was unchanged in January.
Germany's inflation-adjusted GDP increased at a 4.2% annual rate during the first three months of this year. However, "the more widespread weakness in the leading index in recent months suggests that the [German] economy will continue to grow in the near term, but at a more sluggish rate than in the first quarter of 2005," says the New York-based business research group.
