A measure of future U.S. economic growth rose last week to its strongest since April 2010, while the annualized growth rate stayed steady, a research group said on Friday.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index increased to 132.9 in the week ended December 27 from 131.9 the previous week.

The index's annualized growth rate was 1.8 percent, the same as a week earlier. The previous week's figure was originally reported at 1.9 percent.