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

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Jun 23, 2011, 11:00 ET

NEW YORK, June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico increased 0.5 percent in April to 120.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.8 percent increase in March, and a 0.1 percent decline in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Mexico, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.3 percent in April to 114.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.4 percent increase in March, and a 0.6 percent increase in February.

The Conference Board LEI for Mexico increased again in April, and its six-month growth rate has remained within a narrow range in recent months. Meanwhile, The Conference Board CEI for Mexico fell this month, although it has been on a general upward trend since mid-2009. 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

	2011			6-month
	Feb	Mar	Apr	Oct. to Apr
Leading index	119.2	120.2	120.8
Percent Change	-0.1	0.8	0.5	3.3
Diffusion	58.3	58.3	41.7	58.3

Coincident Index	114.3 r	114.8 r	114.5 p
Percent Change	0.6 r	0.4 r	-0.3 p	1.5
Diffusion	100.0	66.7	50.0	100.0

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