A measure of future U.S. economic growth edged higher last week, even as the annualized growth rate declined slightly, a research group said on Friday.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index rose to 130.6 in the week ended May 17 from 130.1 the previous week. That was originally reported as 130.2.

The index's annualized growth rate slipped to 6.8 percent from 7.0 percent a week earlier.