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

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Sep 21, 2010, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.9 percent in July to 110.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent decline in June, and a 0.3 percent increase in May.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in July to 104.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in June, and a 0.3 percent increase in May.

The Conference Board LEI for France picked up in July following a decline in June. However, its six-month growth rate has been moderating since reaching a high in October 2009, while the weaknesses among its components have been widespread in recent months. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for France has increased slightly in 2010 after remaining essentially flat in the last half of 2009. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic activity should continue to grow, albeit moderately, in the near term.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France

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 France include:

Yield Spread, 10 year minus Day-Day Loan
Stock Price SBF 250 Index
Building Permits, residential
New Unemployment Claims
Industrial New Orders
Production Expectations
Ratio Deflator of Manufacturing Value Added to Unit Labor Cost
For more information including full press release and technical notes: http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=3

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.

SOURCE The Conference Board