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

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May 20, 2013, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia increased 0.1 percent in March to 122.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent increase in February, and a 0.1 percent increase in January.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in March to 122.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5 percent increase in February, and a 0.2 percent increase in January.

The LEI for Australia has been increasing slightly in the first three months of 2013, and its six-month growth has also picked up somewhat. Meanwhile, the flat to slightly upward trend in the CEI continued through March, and its six-month grow rate has also improved from the second half of last year. Taken together, the recent behavior in both the LEI and CEI and their components suggests that the rate of economic expansion is likely to pick up slightly in the coming months.

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
	2013						6-month
	Jan		Feb		Mar		Sep to Mar

Leading Economic Index	121.9	p	122.3	p	122.4	p
Percent Change	0.1	p	0.3	p	0.1	p	0.4
Diffusion	50.0		85.7		78.6		71.4

Coincident Economic Index	121.7	p	122.3	p	122.5	p
Percent Change	0.2	p	0.5	p	0.2	p	0.9
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