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

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Feb 14, 2014, 04:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Spain declined 0.4 percent in December to 105.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent increase in November and a 0.3 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Spain, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.2 percent in December to 93.0 (2004 = 100), following no change in November and a 0.2 percent increase in October.

Despite the small decline in December, the LEI for Spain has been essentially increasing throughout 2013. However, its six-month growth rate has slowed recently and the strengths among its components have become slightly less widespread. Meanwhile, the CEI for Spain was relatively flat in the past year, but its six-month growth rate has become slightly negative in recent months. Taken together, the recent behavior of the composite indexes suggests that the economic recovery should continue in the near term, but at a modest pace.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^®(LEI) for Spain
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 Spain include:

Capital Equipment Component of Industrial Production
Contribution to Euro M2
Stock Price Index
Long term Government Bond Yield
Order Books Survey
Job Vacancies

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=9

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
	2013						6-month
	Oct		Nov		Dec		Jun to Dec
Leading Economic Index (LEI)	105.2	r	105.5	r	105.1
Percent Change	0.3	r	0.3		-0.4		1.2
Diffusion	66.7		66.7		41.7		66.7

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	93.2	p	93.2	p	93.0	p
Percent Change	0.2	p	0.0	p	-0.2	p	-0.2	p
Diffusion	70.0		60.0		30.0		60.0

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