The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the U.K. Increased in June

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Aug 11, 2014, 05:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® (LEI) for the U.K. increased 0.6 percent in June, after increasing 0.5 percent in both May and April. Six of the seven components made positive contributions to the index this month. The index now stands at 111.7 (2004=100).

"The Leading Economic Index for the U.K. continues to improve, suggesting further economic growth in the coming months," says Bert Colijn, Senior Economist at The Conference Board. "June's increase in order book volume and expected output suggest the UK economy is not likely to slow down amid concerns about tensions in Eastern Europe and deflation in the Euro Area. This domestic strength should keep the British economy growing at a faster pace than its continental neighbors."

The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index^® (CEI) for the U.K., a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.1 percent in June, after increasing 0.1 percent in May and 0.4 percent in April. The index now stands at 107.2 (2004 = 100).

The Conference Board LEI for the U.K. aggregates seven economic indicators that measure activity in the U.K., each of which has proven accurate on its own. Aggregating individual indicators into a composite index filters out so-called "noise" to show underlying trends more clearly.

The seven components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® (LEI) for the U.K. include:

Order Book Volume (source: Confederation of British Industry)
Volume of Expected Output (source: Confederation of British Industry)
Consumer Confidence Indicator (source: European Commission)
FTSE All-Share Index (source: FTSE Group)
Yield Spread (source: Bank of England)
Productivity, Whole Economy (Office for National Statistics)
Total Gross Operating Surplus of Corporations (Office for National Statistics)

Plotted back to 1970, this index has successfully signaled turning points in the U.K. business cycles. The Conference Board currently produces leading economic indexes for the Euro Area and eleven other countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain and the U.S.

To view The Conference Board calendar of 2014 indicator releases: http://www.conference-board.org/data/

For more information: http://www.conference-board.org/data/bci.cfm

For full press release: http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=2

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 Economic Indexes

	2014			6-month
	Apr	May	Jun	Dec to Jun

Leading Economic Index (LEI)	110.5 p	111.0 p	111.7 p
Percent Change	0.5 p	0.5 p	0.6 p	2.8 p
Diffusion	78.6	78.6	85.7	85.7

Coincident Economic Index (CEI)	107.0 p	107.1 p	107.2 p
Percent Change	0.4 p	0.1 p	0.1 p	1.3 p
Diffusion	100.0	50.0	100.0	100.0

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