from wikipedia

Lagging indicators

Lagging indicators are indicators that usually change after the economy as a whole does. Typically the lag is a few quarters of a year. The unemployment rate is a lagging indicator: employment tends to increase two or three quarters after an upturn in the general economy. In finance, Bollinger bands are one of various lagging indicators in frequent use. In a performance measuring system, profit earned by a business is a lagging indicator as it reflects a historical performance; similarly, improved customer satisfaction is the result of initiatives taken in the past.[citation needed]

The Index of Lagging Indicators is published monthly by The Conference Board, a non-governmental organization, which determines the value of the index from seven economic variables. These components tend to follow changes in the overall economy.

The components are:

The average duration of unemployment (inverted)
The value of outstanding commercial and industrial loans
The change in the Consumer Price Index for services
The change in labour cost per unit of output
The ratio of manufacturing and trade inventories to sales
The ratio of consumer credit outstanding to personal income
The average prime rate charged by banks