Washington - A key gauge of US economic performance dropped 0.7 per cent in July, a sharper slowdown than previous months and a sign of continuing weak growth in the world's largest economy, according to a private survey released Thursday.

The New York-based Conference Board also revised slightly its leading economic indicators of the last two months. June figures were reported level and May's index fell only 0.1 per cent - in both cases an upwards revision of 0.1 per cent.

Only three of the board's 10 different measures of economic performance improved in July. The decline was led by ongoing drops in the housing sector, stock prices and unemployment claims. (dpa)