The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia Decreased

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Nov 17, 2014, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia decreased 0.3 percent in September to 128.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decrease in August, and a 0.6 percent increase in July.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in September to 125.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in August, and a 0.2 percent increase in July.

The Conference Board LEI for Australia decreased in September, for the second consecutive month and its six-month growth rate remains in negative territory. Meanwhile, the six-month growth rate of the CEI for Australia continues to moderate, and is considerably slower compared to six months ago. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic expansion should continue in the near term, but at a slow pace.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^®(LEI) for Australia

The composite economic indexes are the key elements in an analytic system designed to signal peaks and troughs in the business cycle. The leading and coincident economic indexes are essentially composite averages of several individual leading or coincident indicators. They are constructed to summarize and reveal common turning point patterns in economic data in a clearer and more convincing manner than any individual component – primarily because they smooth out some of the volatility of individual components.

The seven components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® for Australia include:

Yield Spread, 10 year minus Policy Rate
Share Prices, All Ordinaries
Money Supply, M3
Rural Goods Exports
Sales to Inventory Ratio
Gross Operating Surplus, Private Non-Financial Corporations
Building Approvals

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=7

For more information about The Conference Board global business cycle indicators:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bci.cfm

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is an 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. www.conference-board.org.

Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
	2014			6-month
	Jul	Aug	Sep	Mar to Sep
Leading Economic Index	129.1 p	129.0 p	128.6 p
Percent Change	0.6 p	-0.1 p	-0.3 p	-0.3
Diffusion	85.7	42.9	57.1	42.9

Coincident Economic Index	125.2 p	125.4 p	125.6 p
Percent Change	0.2 p	0.2 p	0.2 p	0.6
Diffusion	87.5	75.0	75.0	87.5
n.a. Not available p Preliminary r Revised Indexes equal 100 in 2004 Source: The Conference Board All Rights Reserved