Decline in US economic indicators slows down

A small decline in the US index of leading economic indicators may mean the recession is close to bottoming out. The US Commerce Department reported that the index, designed to predict trends in the economy, dropped for the fourth consecutive month.

The index dropped only 0.3 per cent last month, following declines of 1.6 per cent in October and 2.1 per cent in November. That tends to support Reagan administration forecasts that the recession will end during the second quarter of 1982.