Leading economic indicators are announced in Washington. The athletes are foremost or best. They rise, fall or stay the same before similar episodes of the whole economy. Leading indicators, picked to tell what the economy will do, have statistical cousins. Lagging indicators confirm what the economy did.
Coincident indicators tell what the economy is doing.
Why Leading Indicators Lead. To pick a leading indicator, start with common sense. The business might work more. So the average workweek in hours ought to be a leading indicator. Later in the upturn, a business gets confidence to go beyond increasing hours for existing employees.