The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico Decreased in February

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Apr 28, 2011, 11:00 ET

NEW YORK, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico declined 0.2 percent in February, to 119.2 (2004 = 100), following a 0.7 percent increase in January, and a 0.2 percent increase in December.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Mexico, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.6 percent in February to 114.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.5 percent decrease in January, and a 0.4 percent decrease in December.

The Conference Board LEI for Mexico fell this month for the first time since the middle of 2010. However, its six-month growth rate remains substantially stronger than in the second half of last year. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for Mexico, a measure of current economic activity, remains on an upward trend, and its six-month growth rate has been relatively steady in recent months. Taken together, the behavior of the composite indexes continues to suggest that economic activity will expand at a moderate pace 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.

Summary Table of Composite Indexes
	2010	2011		6-month
	Dec	Jan	Feb	Aug. To Feb
Leading index	118.6	119.4 r	119.2
Percent Change	0.2	0.7 r	-0.2	3.3
Diffusion	41.7	75.0	58.3	83.3


Coincident Index	113.3	113.9 r	114.6
Percent Change	-0.4	0.5 r	0.6	2.2
Diffusion	66.7	66.7	100.0	100.0


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