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

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Sep 12, 2013, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea increased 0.1 percent in July to 119.0 (2004 = 100), following a 1.1 percent decline in June, and a 0.5 percent decrease in May.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in July to 117.3 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in June and a 0.1 percent decline in May.

The LEI for Korea increased slightly after declining in the last three months. However, its six-month change remains in negative territory, with widespread weaknesses among the leading indicators. Meanwhile, the CEI for Korea increased slightly again in July, but its six-month change also remains negative. Taken together, the recent weaknesses in both the LEI and CEI continue to suggest that the 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.

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Summary Table of Composite Economic Indexes
		2013						6-month
		May		Jun		Jul		Jan to Jul

Leading Economic index (LEI)		120.2		118.9		119.0
	Percent Change	-0.5		-1.1		0.1		-1.5
	Diffusion	35.7		14.3		42.9		28.6

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)		117.0	r	117.1	p	117.3	p
	Percent Change	-0.1	r	0.1	p	0.2	p	-0.3	p
	Diffusion	25.0		62.5		75.0		50.0

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