US, Japanese economies 'pick up'

The US and Japanese economies are showing strong signs of recovery, and the eurozone is also picking up speed but lags behind, the OECD said on Tuesday. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said that its composite indicator of leading indicators pointed to a "potential turning point in economic activity in the euro area and regained momentum in other major economies." The individual indicators for Japan and the United States "continue to show strong signs of regained momentum in economic activity," the OECD said. The signs from the eurozone point to "a potential turning point but with diverging assessments for the four major European economies," it said. Data for Italy and France indicated "continued sluggish economic activity" but Germany and Britain continued to show signs of "a positive change in momentum but these are weaker than in last month's assessment." Commenting on leading emerging economies, outside the OECD area of rich countries, it said that Brazil, India, Russia and particularly China showed "stronger positive signals" than a month ago.