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

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Nov 06, 2014, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan increased 0.3 percent in September to 97.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in August, and a 0.9 percent decline in July.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Japan, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.4 percent in September to 95.3 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decline in August, and a 0.1 percent decline in July.

The Conference Board LEI and The Conference Board CEI for Japan increased in September, and the strengths in their components have become more widespread. While the six-month change in the LEI remains negative, it has improved in recent months. The six month growth rate of the CEI also remains negative, but the rate of decline has held steady over the past few months. Taken together, the behavior of both indexes suggests, that economic activity is likely to expand at a moderate pace in the months to come.

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.

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Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
	2014						6-month
	Jul		Aug		Sep		Mar to Sep

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	97.4	p	97.5	p	97.8	p
Percent Change	-0.9	p	0.1	p	0.3	p	-2.7	p
Diffusion	50.0		50.0		55.0		50.0

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	95.1	p	94.9	p	95.3	p
Percent Change	-0.1	p	-0.2	p	0.4	p	-2.0	p
Diffusion	25.0		25.0		75.0		25.0

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