After rising for six consecutive months, the Conference Board's leading economic index unexpectedly showed a modest decrease in the month of April.

The Conference Board said Thursday its leading economic index edged down by 0.1 percent in April following a 0.3 percent increase in March. Economists had expected the index to inch up by 0.1 percent.

Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board, said, "The indicators reflect an economy that's still struggling to gain momentum. Growth is slow, but choppy, and consumers, executives and investors are looking for more progress."

The modest decrease by the leading index reflected negative contributions from building permits, weekly jobless claims, consumer expectations for business conditions, and stock prices.

Positive contributions from the interest rate spread, average weekly manufacturing hours, the ISM new orders index, the Leading Credit Index, and manufacturers' new orders for consumer goods and materials helped to limit the downside for the index.

At the same time, the coincident economic index, a measure of current economic conditions, rose by 0.2 percent in April following a matching increase in March.

The continued increase by the coincident index, which rose for the fifth straight month, reflected positive contributions from all four indicators that make up the index.

The Conference Board also said its lagging economic index rose by 0.5 percent in April following a 0.3 percent increase in March.

Positive contributions from commercial and industrial loans outstanding, the ratio of consumer installment credit to personal income, the average duration of unemployment, unit labor costs, manufacturing, and the change in consumer prices for services contributed to the increase by the index.