Wells Fargo Economics Group: “Leading Indicators Show Recovery Underway”

In its report out today, Wells Fargo said that while there hasn’t been much job growth in the recovery so far, this eighth consecutive monthly gain in the Leading Index was driven by signs of improvement in the job market, and indications that employers will gradually start hiring by Q2 2010.

Meanwhile, the Coincident Index*, which has been roughly flat since summer, increased 0.2 percent this month and has moved back into positive territory for the first time since the outset of the recession.

(*Coincident indicators are those which change at approximately the same time as the whole economy, providing information about the current state of the economy. Personal income, GDP, industrial production and retail sales are coincident indicators.)