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

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Dec 19, 2011, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia increased 0.6 percent in October to 125.3 (2004 = 100), following a 0.6 percent increase in September, and a 0.7 percent increase in August.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.3 percent in October to 119.3, (2004 = 100), following a 0.4 percent increase in September, and a 0.3 percent increase in August.

The Conference Board LEI for Australia continued on an upward trend which started in mid-2009 with only a small pause in the beginning of 2011, and its six-month growth rate has picked up this year. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for Australia has also been rising, and its rate of growth has picked up since mid-2011. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that although downward risks remain, the economy is likely to continue expanding in the near term.

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
	2011						6-month
	Aug		Sep		Oct		Apr to Oct

Leading Economic Index	123.8	r	124.6	p	125.3	p
Percent Change	0.7		0.6	p	0.6	p	3.6
Diffusion	57.1		42.9		71.4		57.1

Coincident Economic Index	118.5	r	119.0	p	119.3	p
Percent Change	0.3	r	0.4	p	0.3	p	1.3
Diffusion	75.0		100.0		100.0		100.0

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