NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Korea declined 0.7 percent in August to 118.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.3 percent decline in July, and a 0.7 percent decline in June.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Korea, a measure of current economic activity, declined 0.2 percent in August to 117.5 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent increase in July, and a 0.4 percent decline in June.

The LEI for Korea has been declining for the past five months through August. As a result, its six-month growth rate turned negative in July. Meanwhile, The CEI for Korea also fell in August, and its six-month growth rate has become negative for the first time since April 2009. Taken together, the composite indexes and their components suggest that the rate of economic growth is likely to remain slow in the near term.

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

Stock Prices
Value of Machinery Orders
Letter of Credit Arrivals
Index of Shipments to Inventories
Export FOB
Yield of Government Public Bonds
Private Construction Orders

For more information including full press release and technical notes:
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=6

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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