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

NEW YORK, June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index®(LEI) for Japan increased 0.4 percent in April to 97.6 (2004 = 100), following a 2.6 percent increase in March, and a 1.4 percent increase in February.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index®(CEI) for Japan, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in April to 97.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in March, and a 0.2 percent increase in February.

The Conference Board LEI for Japan has been increasing since December 2012, and as a result, its six-month growth is up sharply. At the same time, The Conference Board CEI for Japan has been increasing since the beginning of 2013, and its six-month change has also improved from the second half of last year. Taken together, the improvements in both the LEI and CEI suggest that the current rate of economic expansion is likely to continue in the coming months.

About The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® (LEI) for Japan
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 ten components of The Conference Board Leading Economic Index^® for Japan include:

Operating Profits
Dwelling Units Started
Business Failures
Index of Overtime Worked
Stock Prices (TOPIX)
Six-Month Growth Rate of Labor Productivity
Tankan Business Conditions Survey
Money Supply
Yield Spread
New Orders for Machinery and Construction

For more information including full press release and technical notes: 
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=5

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 membershipand research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizationswith 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.

SOURCE The Conference Board