US economic prospects brightened markedly in a forward-looking indicator published by the OECD yesterday, with an improvement too in recovery signals for the euro zone and its two leading economies, France and Germany.

The figures came as welcome reassurance that the omens were good for the global economy after a clutch of figures earlier in the week suggested that the pace of recovery was slowing.

"Moderate to strong recovery lies ahead for the OECD area," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a statement.

"November data signalled strong improvement in the United States and better performance in the euro area, in particular for Germany and France," the Paris-based think-tank added.

For the 30-country membership of the OECD, the November leading indicator rose to 123.1 from 122.3.

The reading for the United States rose 1.8 points to 132.3.

It rose 0.7 in the euro zone to 124.2, and was up 1.1 points to 121.8 for France and 1.4 points to 128.4 for Germany, but dipped 0.8 points to 107.1 in Italy.

For Japan, there was also a dip, to 101.5 from 101.8, while the reading for Canada and Britain held steady at 129.1 and 108.1 respectively.

In Britain, by contrast, growth is much better established and speculation is building for a further rise in official rates next month.

Signs mounted earlier this week that the economic revival had suffered a hiccup.

The huge US services sector grew for the ninth month in a row in December, but at a much slower pace than expected.

Data for November showed the largest drop in new orders for US factory goods in over six months.

The OECD indicator was sanguine on the outlook for the G7 group of economic powers - the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain, Germany, France and Italy.

The reading rose 0.8 points to 120.9, while for the 15-nation European Union the index rose 0.6 points to 122.2. - (Reuters)