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

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Feb 16, 2011, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.8 percent in December to 111.9 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent decline in November, and a 0.2 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in December to 104.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent increase in November, and no change in October.

The Conference Board LEI for France resumed rising in December, after declining in November. The index has been on a general upward trend since April 2009, and its six-month growth rate has picked up somewhat lately. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for France has been on an increasing trend since reaching a trough in August 2009, while its six-month growth rate has quickened somewhat as well. Taken together, the behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic activity should continue to grow, and could even pick up modestly 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
	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jun to Dec
Leading Economic Index (LEI)	111.3 p	111.0 p	111.9 p
Percent Change	0.2 p	-0.3 p	0.8 p	3.3 p
Diffusion	50.0	35.7	85.7	85.7
Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	104.1 p	104.4 p	104.6 p
Percent Change	0.0 p	0.3 p	0.2 p	0.9 p
Diffusion	50.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

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