A lagging indicator is an observable or measurable factor that changes some time after a change in the economic, financial or business variable with which it correlates.
Some common examples of economic lags include unemployment, corporate profits, and unit labor costs.
A lagging technical indicator is one that tracks the price action of the underlying asset and traders use it to generate trade signals or confirm the strength of a given trend.
In business, a lagging metric is a key performance indicator that reflects some measure of performance or past performance that can be seen in operating data or financial statements and that reflects the impact of management decisions or business strategy.
Lagging indicators are different from leading indicators such as retail sales and the stock market, which are used for forecasting and forecasting.