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

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Apr 20, 2012, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, April 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.6 percent in February to 113.4 (2004 = 100), following no change in January, and a 0.2 percent increase in December.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, was unchanged in February, remaining at 104.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in January, and a 0.1 percent decline in December.

The Conference Board LEI for France has improved moderately in recent months, and this trend has pushed its six-month growth rate into positive territory for the first time since August of last year. At the same time, The Conference Board CEI remained on a slight downward trend, which started in the third quarter of 2011. The leading economic index has increased over the last three months, and current economic conditions may stop declining further soon, but it is too soon to conclude that economic activity will improve 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
	2011	2012		6-month
	Dec	Jan	Feb	Aug to Feb
Leading Economic Index (LEI)	112.7 p	112.7 p	113.4 p
Percent Change	0.2 p	0.0 p	0.6 p	0.5 p
Diffusion	50.0	35.7	64.3	42.9

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	104.5 p	104.4 p	104.4 p
Percent Change	-0.1 p	-0.1 p	0.0 p	-0.2 p
Diffusion	50.0	62.5	87.5	50.0

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