Just saw The Conference Board dropped their latest economic report and the picture doesn't look great. The US leading economic index fell another 0.2% in December, marking the fifth month straight of declines. This is basically the fifth straight dip we've seen, which suggests the economy is still pretty soft heading into early 2026.

What's dragging things down? Weak consumer expectations are a big part of it, plus the ISM manufacturing orders index took a hit. Labor market numbers aren't helping either - unemployment claims ticked up and manufacturing hours dropped. Meanwhile the lagging index barely moved, down just 0.1%, but at least the coincident index managed to pop 0.2%.

The Conference Board's basically saying these leading indicators are flashing warning signs. When you see five consecutive monthly drops in the US leading economic index, it's hard to ignore that something's off with the broader economy. Curious to see if this trend continues or if we finally get a bounce in the coming months.