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

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Apr 09, 2015, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea declined in February to 108.1 (2010 = 100), following a 0.4 percent increase in January, and a 0.1 percent increase in December.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.6 percent in February to 107.9 (2010 = 100), following a 0.3 percent decline in January, and a 0.5 percent increase in December.

The LEI for Korea declined in February, and while its six-month growth rate remains positive, it has slowed over the past several months. Meanwhile, The CEI for Korea increased, and the rate of its six-month change has accelerated compared to six months ago. Despite the improvement in the CEI growth, the moderating growth rate in the LEI suggests that the current modest pace of economic expansion is likely to continue 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 Inventories to Shipments
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

Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
	2014		2015				6-month
	Dec		Jan		Feb		Aug to Feb

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	108.3	r	108.7	r	108.1
Percent Change	0.1		0.4	r	-0.6		0.5
Diffusion	41.7		66.7	r	66.7		50.0

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	107.6	p	107.3	p	107.9	p
Percent Change	0.5	p	-0.3	p	0.6	p	0.9	p
Diffusion	100.0		50.0		87.5		75.0

n.a. Not available p Preliminary r Revised
Indexes equal 100 in 2010
Source: The Conference Board All Rights Reserved

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.

SOURCE The Conference Board