US leading economic index forecast revised down after September building permits

The Census Bureau reported earlier this morning that total building permits fell 5.0% m/m in September to 1.103mn (previous: 1.161mn), down more sharply than what had been expected. The drop was driven by multifamily permits (-14.6% m/m, previous: 2.37%), which continue to recede from their May/June surge. The monthly change in permits feeds directly into the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index.

"We have revised down our forecast for September to -0.2% m/m (from -0.1%) as we now expect building permits to subtract 0.2pp from the headline reading",says Barclays.