The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan Increased

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Nov 13, 2013, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan increased 1.2 percent in September to 100.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in August and a 0.3 percent increase in July.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Japan, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in September to 96.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in August, and a 0.1 percent increase in July.

The September increase in The Conference Board LEI for Japan followed three months of weak improvements. As a result, the index's six-month growth rate remained lower than the first half of this year. At the same time, the Conference Board CEI improved only modestly and its six-month growth rate was flat. Taken together, the behavior of the LEI and CEI suggests that the pace of economic growth is not likely to accelerate in the final stretch of 2013.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^®(LEI) for Japan
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 ten components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® for Japan include:

Operating Profits
Dwelling Units Started
Business Failures
Index of Overtime Worked
Stock Prices (TOPIX)
Six-Month Growth Rate of Labor Productivity
Tankan Business Conditions Survey
Money Supply
Yield Spread
New Orders for Machinery and Construction

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=5

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 Economic Indexes

	2013			6-month
	Jul	Aug	Sep	Mar to Sep

Leading Economic index (LEI)	99.0 p	98.9 p	100.1 p
Percent Change	0.3 p	-0.1 p	1.2 p	4.3 p
Diffusion	80.0	60.0	95.0	100.0

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	96.7 p	96.6 p	96.8 p
Percent Change	0.1 p	-0.1 p	0.2 p	0.0 p
Diffusion	37.5	25.0	75.0	75.0

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