NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Australia declined 0.1 percent in December to 121.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.2 percent decrease in November, and a 0.2 percent increase in October.

At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Australia, a measure of current economic activity, was unchanged in December to 121.6 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent increase in November and no change in October.

The LEI for Australia continued to fall in December, and has declined in five of the last six months. As a result, its six-month change remains negative and has deepened since the middle of the year. Meanwhile, the CEI continued its essentially flat trend through December, and its rate of growth has also decelerated from the first half of 2012. Taken together, the composite indexes and their components continue to suggest that the pace of economic growth is likely to slow in the near term. 

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

Yield Spread, 10 year minus Policy Rate
Share Prices, All Ordinaries
Money Supply, M3
Rural Goods Exports
Sales to Inventory Ratio
Gross Operating Surplus, Private Non-Financial Corporations
Building Approvals

For more information including full press release and technical notes: 
http://www.conference-board.org/data/bcicountry.cfm?cid=7

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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