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

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Feb 19, 2014, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Feb. 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for France increased 0.1 percent in December to 116.9 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in November, and a 0.7 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for France, a measure of current economic activity, was unchanged in December, remaining at 103.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in November, and no change in October.

The LEI for France has been essentially advancing throughout 2013, but its six-month growth rate moderately slowed in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, the CEI has been relatively flat for the past year, but its six-month growth rate has become slightly positive in recent months. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the contraction in economic activity will likely continue to ease in early 2014.

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
	2013			6-month
	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jun to Dec

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	116.7 p	116.8 p	116.9 p
Percent Change	0.7 p	0.1 p	0.1 p	1.3 p
Diffusion	85.7	64.3	50.0	57.1

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	103.3 r	103.5 r	103.5 p
Percent Change	0.0	0.2 r	0.0 p	0.2 p
Diffusion	62.5	87.5	62.5	100.0

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