The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan Increased -- NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for Japan increased 1.2 percent in September to 100.1 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in August and a 0.3 percent increase in July. At the same time, The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) for Japan, a measure of current economic activity, increased 0.2 percent in September to 96.8 (2004 = 100), following a 0.1 percent decline in August, and a 0.1 percent increase in July. The September increase in The Conference Board LEI for Japan followed three months of weak improvements. As a result, the index's six-month growth rate remained lower than the first half of this year. At the same time, the Conference Board CEI improved only modestly and its six-month growth rate was flat. Taken together, the behavior of the LEI and CEI suggests that the pace of economic growth is not likely to accelerate in the final stretch of 2013. 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 membership and research association working in the public interest. Leading Economic index (LEI) 0.3 p 0.1 p 1.2 p 4.3 p 0.2 p 0.0 p