The Conference Board Leading Economic Index(R) (LEI) for the Euro Area Increases Again in January

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Feb 26, 2010, 04:00 ET

BRUSSELS, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 0.8 percent in January to 107.4 (2004 = 100), following a 0.9 percent increase in December and a 0.5 percent increase in November. Six of the eight components contributed positively to the index this month. However, its six-month growth rate has been slowing since September.

Said Jean-Claude Manini, The Conference Board Senior Economist for Europe: "The moderation of the upward trend in the LEI for the Euro Area suggests that the recovery is unlikely to gather speed over 2010, just as in the United States. Even more so, and in contrast to the United States, current economic conditions in the Euro Area have been weakening."

The Conference Board LEI for the Euro Area has increased by 12.5 percent since its March 2009 trough. Meanwhile, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for the Euro Area, a measure of current economic activity, decreased by 0.1 percent in January, falling to 101.0 (2004 = 100) according to preliminary estimates*. It decreased by 0.3 percent in December and was unchanged in November. The rate of decline for The Conference Board CEI for the Euro Area is substantially slower than during the first half of 2009, but has increased slightly in recent months.

The Conference Board LEI for the Euro Area aggregates eight economic indicators that measure activity in the Euro Area as a whole (rather than indicators of individual member countries), 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.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the Euro Area was launched in January 2009. Plotted back to 1987, this index has successfully signaled turning points in the business cycle of the bloc of countries that now constitute the Euro Area, defined by the common currency zone.

The Conference Board currently produces leading economic indexes for nine other individual countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Australia, Korea and Mexico.

The eight components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for the Euro Area include:

Economic Sentiment Index (source: European Commission DG-ECFIN)

Index of Residential Building Permits Granted (source: Eurostat)

Index of Capital Goods New Orders (source: Eurostat)

Dow Jones EURO STOXX® Index (source: STOXX Limited)

Money Supply (M2) (source: European Central Bank)

Interest Rate Spread (source: ECB)

Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (source: Markit Economics)

Eurozone Service Sector Future Business Activity Expectations Index (source: Markit Economics)

For more information:

http://www.conference-board.org/economics/bci/pressRelease_output.cfm?cid=10

To view The Conference Board calendar of 2010 indicator releases:

http://www.conference-board.org/economics/indicators.cfm

* Series in The Conference Board LEI for the Euro Area that are based on The Conference Board estimates are real money supply, residential building permits and new orders of capital goods. All series in The Conference Board CEI for the Euro Area are based on The Conference Board estimates (employment, industrial production, retail trade and manufacturing turnover).

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, 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.

SOURCE The Conference Board