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

News provided by

Nov 18, 2013, 06:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia increased 0.3 percent in September to 123.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decline in August, and a 0.2 percent increase in July.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in September to 122.5 (2004 = 100), following no change in both August and July.

The LEI for Australia continued its slight upward trend, which started earlier this year, through the third quarter. Meanwhile, the CEI has been essentially flat in the last six months. Taken together, the steady growth in the LEI suggests that the rate of economic expansion is likely to continue through early 2014.

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.

Follow The Conference Board
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn


Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
	2013						6-month
	Jul		Aug		Sep		Mar to Sep

Leading Economic Index	123.4	p	123.2	p	123.6	p
Percent Change	0.2	p	-0.2	p	0.3	p	0.6
Diffusion	71.4		42.9		78.6		85.7

Coincident Economic Index	122.4	p	122.4	p	122.5	p
Percent Change	0.0	p	0.0	p	0.1	p	0.2
Diffusion	50.0		50.0		100.0		75.0

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