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

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Sep 21, 2012, 11:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Mexico increased 1.5 percent in July to 122.0 (2004 = 100), following a 0.7 percent decline in June, and a 0.7 percent decline in May.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Mexico, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.4 percent in July to 120.9 (2004 = 100), following a 0.6 percent increase in June, and a 0.3 percent increase in May.

The LEI for Mexico increased sharply in July after declining in the past three months. With the gain in July, the index's six-month growth rate is now about the same as it was in the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the CEI for Mexico also increased in July, and its six-month growth rate has been fairly steady since the beginning of this year. Taken together, the recent behavior in the composite indexes suggests that the current rate of economic expansion is likely to continue 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
	2012			6-month
	May	Jun	Jul	Jan to Jul
Leading index	121.0 r	120.2 r	122.0
Percent Change	-0.7	-0.7 r	1.5	0.4
Diffusion	25.0	58.3	91.7	75.0

Coincident Index	119.7 r	120.4 r	120.9
Percent Change	0.3 r	0.6 r	0.4	2.1
Diffusion	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0