The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea Declines

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Jun 13, 2013, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea declined 0.5 percent in April to 120.9 (2004 = 100), following a 1.2 percent increase in March, and a 0.5 percent decline in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.3 percent in April to 116.7 (2004 = 100), following a 0.6 percent increase in March and a 1.6 percent decline in February.

The LEI for Korea fell in April and has declined in three of the last four months, with its six-month growth rate turning negative. Meanwhile, the CEI for Korea has increased in three of the last four months, but the gain was offset by a large decline in February. As a result, its six-month change has remained in negative territory. Taken together, the recent volatile behavior in both the LEI and CEI suggest that the current rate of economic expansion is likely to slow in the near term.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea
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 Korea include:

Stock Prices
Value of Machinery Orders
Letter of Credit Arrivals
Index of Shipments to Inventories
Export FOB
Yield of Government Public Bonds
Private Construction Orders

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=6

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
	Feb		Mar		Apr		Oct to Apr

Leading Economic index (LEI)	120.1	r	121.5	r	120.9
Percent Change	-0.5	r	1.2		-0.5		-0.3
Diffusion	42.9	r	85.7		42.9		42.9

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	115.7	r	116.4	p	116.7	p
Percent Change	-1.6	r	0.6	p	0.3	p	-0.1	p
Diffusion	25.0		50.0		75.0		50.0

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