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

News provided by

Jun 12, 2014, 09:00 ET

NEW YORK, June 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea increased 0.8 percent in April to 123.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9 percent increase in March, and a 0.2 percent increase in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.1 percent in April to 118.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.8 percent decline in March, and a 1.1 percent increase in February.

The LEI for Korea has increased in the last three months, and has been on a moderate upward trend since August of last year. Despite recent improvements, its six-month change has weakened in recent months, but remains in positive territory. Meanwhile, The CEI for Korea declined in April, and its six-month growth rate, though slightly higher than in the previous six months, has also recently moderated somewhat. The slower growth in both the LEI and CEI suggests that the rate of expansion in economic activity is unlikely to gain momentum 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						6-month
	Feb		Mar		Apr		Oct to Apr

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	121.5	r	122.6	r	123.6
Percent Change	0.2	r	0.9	r	0.8		0.7
Diffusion	42.9	r	64.3	r	64.3		50.0

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	119.4	r	118.5	p	118.4	p
Percent Change	1.1	r	-0.8	p	-0.1	p	1.1	p
Diffusion	75.0		25.0		62.5		75.0

n.a. Not available p Preliminary r Revised Indexes equal 100 in 2004 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.

Follow The Conference Board
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

SOURCE The Conference Board