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

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Sep 23, 2014, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia increased 0.5 percent in July to 129.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in June, and a 0.2 percent decline in May.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in July to 125.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in June, and no change in May.

The Conference Board LEI for Australia increased in July, after remaining flat over the previous three months. As a result, its six-month growth rate has declined in recent months and is considerably lower compared to the second half of last year. Meanwhile, the six-month growth rate of the CEI for Australia has moderated in recent months, and is lower compared to six months ago. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the economic expansion will continue in the near term, but is not likely to accelerate.

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.

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Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
		2014				6-month
	May	Jun		Jul		Jan to Jul

Leading Economic Index	128.0	128.3	p	129.0	p
Percent Change	-0.2	0.2	p	0.5	p	0.2
Diffusion	57.1	71.4		85.7		57.1

Coincident Economic Index	124.8	124.9	p	125.0	p
Percent Change	0.0	0.1	p	0.1	p	0.8
Diffusion	37.5	62.5		75.0		100.0

n.a. Not available p Preliminary r Revised
Indexes equal 100 in 2004
Source: The Conference Board All Rights Reserved