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

News provided by

Feb 14, 2013, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea was unchanged in December, remaining at 121.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent increase in November, and a 0.6 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.2 percent in December to 117.2 (2004 = 100), following a 0.8 percent increase in November and a 0.2 percent decline in October.

The LEI for Korea remained unchanged after increasing in the previous three months, and its six-month change has picked up in the second half of 2012 compared to the first half of the year. Meanwhile, the CEI for Korea fell slightly in December, but its six-month growth rate has remained fairly steady during the last quarter of the year. Taken together, both the LEI and CEI suggest that the current rate of economic expansion is likely to continue 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						6-month
	Oct		Nov		Dec		Jun to Dec
Leading Economic index (LEI)	121.2	r	121.6	r	121.6
Percent Change	0.6	r	0.3	r	0.0		1.3
Diffusion	35.7	r	64.3	r	57.1		71.4

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	116.5	p	117.4	p	117.2	p
Percent Change	-0.2	p	0.8	p	-0.2	p	0.9	p
Diffusion	50.0		87.5		62.5		100.0

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