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

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Feb 16, 2012, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea increased 0.4 percent in December, to 119.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9 percent decline in November, and a 0.1 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in December to 116.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 increase in November, and a 0.8 percent increase in October.

The Conference Board LEI for Korea has been fluctuating around a downward trend since early 2011, and its six-month growth rate has remained negative through the end of 2011. Meanwhile, the six-month growth rate of The Conference Board CEI for Korea has also moderated since mid-2011. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that economic activity is likely to moderate in the near term, and that risk of a further slowing in growth is rising.

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.

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Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
	2011						6-month
	Oct		Nov		Dec		Jun to Dec

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	120.2		119.1		119.6
Percent Change	0.1	r	-0.9		0.4		-1.0
Diffusion	50.0	r	28.6		35.7		42.9

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	115.7	p	115.9	p	116.1	p
Percent Change	0.8	p	0.2	p	0.2	p	0.8	p
Diffusion	100.0		87.5		75.0		100.0

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