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

News provided by

Jan 23, 2012, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- This month's release incorporates annual benchmark revisions to the composite economic indexes, These regular benchmark revisions bring the indexes up-to-date with revisions in the source data. The revisions do not change the cyclical properties of the indexes. The indexes are updated throughout the year, but only for the previous six months. Data revisions that fall outside of the moving six-month window are incorporated when the benchmark revision is made and the entire histories of the indexes are recomputed. As a result, the revised indexes and their month-over-month changes will no longer be directly comparable to those issued prior to the benchmark revision.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.conference-board.org/data/bci.cfm or contact [email protected].

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia decreased 0.3 percent in November to 128.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5 percent increase in October, and no change in September.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in November to 119.6, (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent increase in October, and a 0.4 percent increase in September.

The Conference Board LEI for Australia declined in November, and its six-month growth rate has moderated compared to the first half of 2011. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for Australia continued its slightly rising trend, and its rate of growth has picked up since mid-2011. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that although current economic activity remains fairly solid, the economy is likely to grow at a more moderate pace 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
	Sep		Oct		Nov		May to Nov

Leading Economic Index	127.7	p	128.4	p	128.0	p
Percent Change	0.0	p	0.5	p	-0.3	p	1.7
Diffusion	42.9		71.4		57.1		57.1

Coincident Economic Index	119.1	p	119.4	p	119.6	p
Percent Change	0.4	p	0.3	p	0.2	p	1.4
Diffusion	100.0		100.0		75.0		100.0

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