The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area Increases in February

BRUSSELS, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 0.8 percent in February, rising to 105.2 (2004=100), following increases of 1.1 percent in January and 0.5 percent in December.

Said Jean-Claude Manini, The Conference Board Senior Economist for Europe: "The LEI for the Euro Area rose for a third consecutive month in February, boosted once again by investor and business confidence. However, the recent volatility of business confidence highlights the fragility of the near-term improvement and in particular the weakness of domestic demand for the Euro Area as a whole. Economic activity may have contracted for a second consecutive quarter, but the likeliest scenario based on the LEI still suggests that subdued growth in economic activity will resume in the coming months."

The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for the Euro Area, which measures current economic activity, decreased 0.1 percent in February. The index stands at 102.4 (2004 = 100) according to preliminary estimates*. The CEI remained unchanged in January and decreased 0.1 percent in December.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the Euro Area was launched in January 2009. Plotted back to 1987, this index has successfully signaled turning points in the business cycle of the bloc of countries that now constitute the Euro Area, defined by the common currency zone.

The Conference Board currently produces leading economic indexes for ten other individual countries, including Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S.

The eight components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the Euro Area include:

Economic Sentiment Index (source: European Commission DG-ECFIN)
Index of Residential Building Permits Granted (source: Eurostat)
Index of Capital Goods New Orders (source: Eurostat)
EURO STOXX® Index (source: STOXX Limited)
Money Supply (M2) (source: European Central Bank)
Interest Rate Spread (source: ECB)
Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (source: Markit Economics)
Eurozone Service Sector Future Business Activity Expectations Index (source: Markit Economics)

To view The Conference Board calendar of 2011 indicator releases:
http://www.conference-board.org/data

* Series in The Conference Board LEI for the Euro Area that are based on The Conference Board estimates are real money supply, residential building permits, and new orders of capital goods. All series in The Conference Board CEI for the Euro Area are based on The Conference Board estimates (employment, industrial production, retail trade, and manufacturing turnover).

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

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