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

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Sep 20, 2012, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia was unchanged in July at 124.9 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5 percent increase in June, and a 0.5 percent increase 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 120.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in June, and a 0.2 percent increase in May.

The LEI for Australia was unchanged in July after increases in the past two months. Although its six-month growth rate is slightly negative, the rate of decline has moderated in July compared to earlier this year. Meanwhile, The CEI for Australia remained on a slightly rising trend through July, and its six-month growth rate has been fairly steady since the beginning of 2012. Taken together, the recent behavior in the composite indexes suggests that economic activity will continue to grow at a 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
			2012				6-month
	May		Jun		Jul		Jan to Jul

Leading Economic Index	124.3	r	124.9	p	124.9	p
Percent Change	0.5	.0	0.5	p	0.0	p	-0.2
Diffusion	71.4		85.7		57.1		57.1

Coincident Economic Index	120.2	r	120.3	p	120.4	p
Percent Change	0.2		0.1	p	0.1	p	0.8
Diffusion	75.0		50.0		75.0		75.0

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