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

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Nov 22, 2010, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.8 percent in September to 112.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9 percent increase in August, and a 0.9 percent increase in July.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in September to 104.5 (2004 = 100), following no change in August, and a 0.2 percent increase in July.

The Conference Board LEI for France has been on an upward trend since April 2009, and the index is now 1.4 percent above its most recent peak in October 2007. However, its six-month growth has moderated slightly from the very fast pace reached late last year. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for France has been increasing moderately in 2010, with its six-month growth rate picking up somewhat in recent months. Taken together, the behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic activity should continue to grow 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.


Summary Table of Composite Indexes

	2010			6-month
	Jul	Aug	Sep	Mar. to Sep

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	110.1 p	111.1 p	112.0 p
Percent Change	0.9 p	0.9 p	0.8 p	3.4 p
Diffusion	64.3	64.3	85.7	57.1

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	104.3 r	104.3 r	104.5 p
Percent Change	0.2 r	0.0	0.2 p	0.7 p
Diffusion	87.5	50.0	100.0	100.0

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