According to a leading not-for-profit international business group, the economic recession may be slowing, and the US could be headed toward growth sooner than just about anyone had expected.

The Conference Board, a non-profit global business organization, said on Thursday that its index of leading economic indicators in the United States saw an increase of as much as 1.2% last month, the second consecutive monthly gain. Together, the rise represents the largest back-to-back increase since the last two months of 2001, the group said.

The Conference Board's index counts ten total indicators.  Seven of the ten of them had seen an improvement: stock prices, money supply, building permits, capital-goods orders, consumer expectation and interest-rate spread. The only three indicators that continued to contract were first-time jobless claims, consumer-goods orders, and work hours at factories.

"The recession is losing steam," said one of the lead economists for the Conference Board, Ken Goldstein. "Confidence is building and financial market volatility is abating. Even the housing market appears to be stabilizing."

"If these trends continue, expect a slow recovery beginning before the end of the year. However, employment will take longer to turn around," he added.

Portions of this article courtesy of WikiNews.