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

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Apr 16, 2013, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea increased 0.2 percent in February to 121.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in January, and a 0.2 percent decline in December.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in February to 117.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in January and a 0.2 percent decline in December.

The LEI for Korea increased slightly in February after declining in the previous two months, and its six-month growth has picked up in recent months. Meanwhile, the CEI for Korea also increased slightly in February following two small consecutive monthly declines, and its six-month growth rate has remained in positive territory. Taken together, recent improvements in both the LEI and CEI suggest that the economic expansion will continue, and that the rate of expansion may even pick up moderately 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

	2012				2013		6-month
	Dec		Jan		Feb		Aug to Feb

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	121.3		121.2	r	121.4	p
Percent Change	-0.2	r	-0.1	p	0.2	p	1.8	p
Diffusion	57.1	r	57.1	p	42.9	p	71.4

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	117.1	p	117.0	p	117.1	p
Percent Change	-0.2	p	-0.1	p	0.1	p	0.8	p
Diffusion	62.5		50.0		50.0		100.0

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