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

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Feb 22, 2012, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.3 percent in December to 113.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decrease in November, and a 0.6 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, decreased 0.2 percent in December to 104.2 (2004 = 100), following no change in November, and a 0.1 percent decrease in October.

After declining between July and September 2011, The Conference Board LEI for France increased for a second time in the three months through December, but its six-month growth rate remains slightly negative. At the same time, The Conference Board CEI has declined for the third time in four months, and its six-month growth rate also remains negative. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic activity will likely remain weak 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.

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Summary Table of Composite Indexes
	2011						6-month
	Oct		Nov		Dec		Jun to Dec

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	112.9	p	112.7	p	113.0	p
Percent Change	0.6	p	-0.2	p	0.3	p	-0.4	p
Diffusion	78.6		50.0		50.0		42.9
Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	104.4	r	104.4	r	104.2	p
Percent Change	-0.1	r	0.0	r	-0.2	p	-0.4	p
Diffusion	50.0		50.0		25.0		25.0

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