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

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Dec 12, 2013, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea increased 1.6 percent in October to 123.2 (2004 = 100), following a 0.6 percent increase in September, and a 0.7 percent gain in August.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.7 percent in October to 118.3 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decrease in September and a 0.4 percent increase in August.

The LEI for Korea has risen in each of the last four months, after declining for three consecutive months. As a result, its six-month change has rebounded sharply, but remains volatile. The CEI for Korea rose in October, and its six-month growth rate has improved compared to earlier this year. The most recent improvements in the composite indexes suggest continuing economic growth in the near term and may even be early signs of a slight pickup.

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
	Aug		Sep		Oct		Apr to Oct

Leading Economic index (LEI)	120.6	r	121.3	r	123.2	p
Percent Change	0.7	r	0.6		1.6	p	1.8	p
Diffusion	71.4		64.3		85.7		57.1

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	117.7	r	117.5	p	118.3	p
Percent Change	0.4	r	-0.2	p	0.7	p	1.0	p
Diffusion	75.0		50.0		75.0		75.0

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