Alabama is among the states with a strong leading index score for December 2012, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
The latest leading index numbers still have Alabama as a top-five fastest-growing economy for the first half of 2013.
The leading index is built and maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia as an estimator for state-level economic growth. The index uses two state-specific components (housing permits, initial claims of unemployment insurance) and two national indicators (interest rates on Treasuries, total manufacturing growth) to estimate growth. .
AL.com has recently covered changes in permits and initial claims in Alabama:
If the Philly Fed is right, Alabama should expect to see strong growth in employment, wages, and manufacturing output over the next six months.