The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico Declines

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May 23, 2014, 11:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico declined 0.2 percent in March to 120.7 (2004 = 100), following a 0.7 percent decline in February, and a 1.4 percent decline in January.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Mexico, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in March to 122.9 (2004 = 100), following no change in February, and a 0.1 percent increase in January.

The LEI for Mexico has been declining since December of last year, and as a result its six-month change has fallen deeper into negative territory. Meanwhile, the CEI's growth has been rising slightly since the summer of last year. Despite the steady growth in the CEI, the persistent weakness in the LEI over the last six months suggests that the current moderate pace of economic activity is unlikely to accelerate in the near term.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^®(LEI) for Mexico
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 six components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® for Mexico include:

Industrial Production, Construction Component
Stock Prices
U.S. Refiners' Acquisition Cost of Domestic and Imported Crude Oil
Net Insufficient Inventories
Federal Funds Rate
Real Exchange Rate

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=8

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 Indexes
		2014		6-month
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Sep to Mar

Leading index	121.7 r	120.9 r	120.7
Percent Change	-1.4	-0.7 r	-0.2	-2.5
Diffusion	8.3	41.7	58.3	66.7

Coincident Index	122.7 r	122.7 r	122.9 p
Percent Change	0.1 r	0.0 r	0.2 p	0.9 p
Diffusion	100.0	66.7	66.7	66.7

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